Sunshine and Sea Air - Volume 2: To Love and Be Loved
by dS-Tiff
Summary: Their love thrives, but Paige and Walter still have a few obstacles to overcome. Meanwhile Toby and Happy prepare for the birth of their baby and the rest of the team face challenges of their own. But Team Scorpion are stronger now than they've ever been.
1. Chapter 1 - Safe and Secure

_**This is Volume 2 of the 'Sunshine and Sea Air' series, continuing the story of Scorpion post-reconciliation. I know I've kept you waiting a while for this, I hope it's been worth the wait! I really appreciate reviews, thank you kindly!**_

**CHAPTER 1.**

"Happy Two-Month Anniversary, Walter."

The sound of Page's voice together with the sensation of her lips against his brought Walter out of his sleep. His eyes flickered open and he couldn't help smiling at the sight that greeted him - Paige in bed next to him. In _their_ bed.

Naked.

It was his favourite way to wake up.

Then Paige's words slowly began to register in his half-asleep mind and Walter's face fell into a confused frown.

"Huh?" he mumbled, rolling onto his side to face her.

"It's been two months since we moved into our own home," Paige explained, rolling her eyes as if she was annoyed that he hadn't understood.

But she wasn't really annoyed with him. She loved him too much for that and she'd learnt the hard way the dangers of allowing silly, unimportant things to annoy her.

Paige shuddered as she thought about how she'd almost lost him - almost lost everything - because of her habit of overreacting. But that was almost a year and a half ago now - it felt like a lifetime.

"Oh, I see," said Walter, pushing himself up onto his elbow. "Should I... should I have got you something?" he added with a worried look.

Paige laughed. "No, silly," she responded. "Just being here with you is enough."

Then a pang of doubt hit her. "You are... happy. Aren't you?" she asked. "Living here with me, I mean," she added. "You... you wouldn't prefer to be living back at the garage?"

Their new place was everything Paige had ever dreamed of in family home. She had never been happier and most of the time she thought Walter felt the same, but then occasionally the old familiar feelings of insecurity would come back and her mind would be flooded with doubt.

Walter had learned to expect it now, though and better still, he knew what to do. He understood what she needed from him.

He took her left hand in his, looked into her eyes and spoke in a warm, reassuring voice that Toby had helped him perfect.

"Paige, I love you," he began. "And this is our home now. The garage will always be the Scorpion family home - our cyclone needs a home too - but this place is _our_ home. You, me, Ralph plus any members of our family we add through successful procreation."

Paige giggled. "Successful procreation – is that what we're calling it now?"

"We will, when we're successful," replied Walter. "Talking of which, have you taken a test yet this month?"

Paige pressed her lips together and turned away from him. "No, it's too early," she replied, abruptly.

Walter frowned. "But modern home pregnancy tests are ninety seven per cent accurate up to four days prior to…"

"It's too early!" she snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence with her forceful repetition. Then she let out a slow breath and forced a smile onto her lips. "Sorry," she apologised. "But there's no rush and I don't want to risk a false positive. You remember how much heartache that caused for Happy and Toby, right?"

"Of course," replied Walter. "B... b… but that was over three years ago and…"

"Walter, I'll do it when I'm ready, OK?"

Walter nodded, puzzled as to why she felt she wasn't 'ready' now. They had only been trying to get pregnant for a few weeks, it was early days so he wasn't worried that they hadn't been successful yet. He now assumed Paige _was_ worried, though.

"I'm sure it's too early to be concerned about… about fertility issues," he began. "However, if you wish, we can…"

"No, it's not that," Paige insisted. "Look, it's nothing. Now come on, get that naked butt of yours out of bed. Allie and Cabe are bringing Rosa to the garage later. We only met her briefly the other day. They're going to be her foster parents for the next few weeks so that makes us her foster family. I think we should take the time to get to know her."

"Hmmm," agreed Walter, but his mind wasn't on Cabe and Allie's new ward, it was firmly on Paige.

Walter knew she wanted another baby as badly as he did, but now he was wondering if they should have waited a little while longer before they started trying. Paige had been badly affected by the events surrounding their temporary split and even now, a year and a half on from that terrible time, she was still seeing Toby on a semi-professional basis to help her make sense of what happened and cope with the aftermath. Right now Walter was the happiest he'd ever been in his life and Paige had told him many times that she was too, but he couldn't help but worry that her insecurities might manifest themselves again one day.

All he could do was make her feel as safe and secure as possible and he put every ounce of his being into doing exactly that every day. He just hoped it was enough. He knew he couldn't bear it if he ever lost her, or Ralph. They were his world.

"Walter!" exclaimed Paige, standing on one leg as she pulled on a pair of panties. "Move!"

Walter got out of bed and walked over to her. Without warning he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he said.

Paige gasped before wrapping her arms around him. "I love you too," she replied, taking a moment to relish the warm feelings of reassurance that came in moments like this. "Now hurry up!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Sugarplum, should you be doing that?" Toby snatched the hammer out of his wife's hand and placed it down on the workbench.

On the other side of the garage, Sylvester winced and buried his head in a book in anticipation of Happy's response. He was right to brace himself.

"I'm pregnant, I'm not an invalid!" Happy exploded, slamming her hands on the bench before picking up the hammer again and waving it in front of Toby's face.

"Thirty five weeks pregnant," Toby reminded her, in a patronising tone.

"Really?" replied Happy sarcastically. She looked down at her enormous belly and spread her arms wide. "I wondered what this was!"

"I just think you should be taking it easy as we wait for the pitter-patter of tiny Quintis feet," said Toby, calmly.

Happy glared at him. "I'm trying to hammer out the dent you put in the side of the coffee machine," she replied, through gritted teeth.

"That was an accident…" Toby began, but Happy wasn't about to let him distract her from her rant.

"I don't remember anything about hammering in any of those dumb pregnancy manuals you made me read!" she continued. Then she drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing she had no need to be so angry. "Listen to me, Doc," she said, her voice now several decibels lower. "I know you're worried about me and our baby, but I promise you, we're both fine."

Toby let out a sigh too and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry, I know my fussing annoys the hell outta you…"

"Just a little."

Toby smiled at her deliberate understatement. "But now the head's engaged and we're so close and… and I can't help it. I want to wrap you both up in blankets and protect you from… well, from everything."

Happy smiled back at him. "I know you do, you big doofus," she said. "But these last few weeks feel like they've dragged on forever and I just gotta do stuff to take my mind off it, or I'll go crazy. So you've gotta let me. I promise I won't go out on the bike, or go bungee jumping."

"OK," replied Toby, leaning in to capture her lips in a tender kiss. "I'll try, but I can't promise anything," he added. "It's taken us so long to get this far and I don't want anything to…" but the words caught in his throat and he couldn't finish his sentence.

Happy kissed him again. "I know," she said quietly.

Neither Happy, nor Toby could quite believe they were actually going to have a baby. After almost a year of fertility treatment they'd decided to adopt instead of having a biological child of their own and were now the proud parents of adorable twin girls. Then this pregnancy had come out of the blue and they were soon to be a family of five and if they thought about it too hard it was overwhelming.

Just then the familiar sight of Cabe's SUV pulling into the garage broke them from their thoughts.

"Hey, geniuses," grinned Cabe, getting out of the car. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and looked more relaxed than anyone had seen him in a long time.

Sylvester walked over to join them as Allie got out of the other side of the car and Cabe opened the back door to help Rosa, their first foster child, out of the vehicle too.

"No Paige and Walter, yet?" asked Allie as the three of them crossed the garage.

"Nope," answered Happy.

Allie turned to Sylvester. "Any word from Kimberley?" she asked, patting his arm gently.

Kimberley was Sylvester's girlfriend of barely two months. Their relationship had been going from strength to strength, but then her mother's ongoing illness had taken a turn for the worse and Kimberley and her sister had gone to stay with her. Sylvester missed her more than he ever thought possible.

"Not today," replied Sylvester. "I spoke to her yesterday, though. The prognosis isn't good. I wish I could fly up there and be with her, but she insisted I should stay here."

"You've got the election coming up," noted Allie.

"I know," nodded Sylvester. "And I'm up to my eyes in that legal case I took on, but… but I should be with her. I want to be with her."

"I'm sure Kimberley knows that, but she and her sister have each other for support," Allie pointed out. "Meanwhile your client is relying on you to keep him out of jail."

"I hope he has a Plan B," said Toby, dryly.

Happy rewarded his facetiousness with a slap on the back of the head. "Ignore him, Sly," she said.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" insisted Toby. Then he turned his attentions to the little girl who was still clutching Allie's hand tightly. "Hey, Rosa," he began, with a warm smile. "How are you settling in?"

Rosa stared at him with wide eyes, but didn't reply. Cabe placed an encouraging hand on the little girl's shoulder, but she remained silent.

"I think we're doing fine," Allie replied on Rosa's behalf. She glanced at Toby with concern and Toby responded with a small nod.

He crouched on one knee to get down to Rosa's eye level. She was shorter than average for a ten year old and right now she seemed much more nervous and shy than she had been five days ago when she'd first been introduced to the team. Her dark eyes locked with his and he took off his hat and dropped it onto her head.

"Takes a while to get used to being away from home, doesn't it," he offered. "And you're missing your Mom. It's OK to feel sad, y'know."

Rosa nodded. Allie had plaited her tightly curled hair into two neat braids and they swung past her ears as she moved her head.

"I've got an idea," said Toby with a smile. "Why don't you go play Proton Arnold with Sly?"

"Sure!" added Sylvester with a huge, friendly grin. "Come on, I'll show you the secret level." He held out his hand for Rosa and the little girl reached out to him.

"Oh, wait," said Toby. He leaned forward, brushing his hand against her earlobe and 'magically' producing a coin. He held it between his thumb and forefinger in front of her startled face. "You'll need this," he said with a wink.

The corners of Rosa's lips twitched into a smile and she took the coin in one hand and slipped her other hand into Sylvester's and Toby barely had time to reclaim his hat before she skipped over to the arcade machine with Sylvester.

"We had a call from the hospital this morning," explained Cabe in a low voice. "Rosa's mom had to go back into surgery yesterday. Nothing too serious, I don't think, but it's set back her recovery by another couple weeks."

"Spinal surgery's a tricky game," acknowledged Toby. "And recovery is always a slow process."

"Poor kid's been quiet ever since we told her," continued Cabe. "I guess she's doesn't want to spend an extra two weeks with us."

Happy frowned. "Any kid should be grateful to have you guys as foster parents," she said.

"You might wanna cut the kid some slack, Lovebug," suggested Toby, gingerly. "She's ten. It's not that she's ungrateful, she's just scared. Her Mom's in the hospital and she's got to live with total strangers for a while, it's not easy. I think she'll be OK, she just needs a little more time to adjust."

"We don't really know what else to say to her," said Allie, sadly. "We talked to her, tried to reassure her, but she's shutting us out."

"Sounds like you're doing all the right things," smiled Toby and Allie smiled back, grateful for the endorsement.

"I might go see if she's winning on that game," said Cabe and he walked off to join Sylvester and Rosa.

Allie watched him go, her heart skipping a beat as he strode across the garage.

Toby punched her playfully on the arm. "Seems the whole parenting thing agrees with Cabe," he said.

"He's a natural," Allie replied with a smile. "He's so good with her and he really cares about her. We both do. It feels so odd – we've only known her for a week – but I'd do anything to keep her safe. I know I keep saying it, but thank you for everything you've done for him lately. I know talking to you about losing Amanda hasn't been easy for him, but whatever you did has helped him so much."

"Don't tell him I said this," began Toby. "But that grumpy old guy's been more like a Dad to me these past few years than my old man ever was. I'm just glad I can do something for him in return."

Just then Walter and Paige arrived in Paige's car.

"Sorry we're late," said Paige, grabbing her bag from the back seat.

Toby glanced at the clock on the wall. "Been working on Operation Baby Waige, have we?" he offered with a wink.

"'Waige' is a dumb name," retorted Happy.

"I'll admit, it doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as 'Quintis'…" began Toby.

"And we're all in our thirties, not teenagers," noted Happy, rolling her eyes.

"Darlin', all the best couples have couple names these days," replied Toby, folding his arms across his chest defiantly.

"If I remember correctly," began Happy. "You cited Brangelina as a prime example the day you came up with 'Quintis' and look what happened to them."

Toby shook his head, but he was smiling inwardly. He knew that Happy secretly loved that they had a couple name, even though she would never admit it.

As Paige and Allie began to talk about Rosa, Walter grabbed Toby by the arm and dragged him away from them.

"I need your professional opinion," he began.

"Sure," replied Toby. "You know my regular fees, but I'll cut you a deal - ten per cent discount for my bestest buddy."

Walter frowned at him. "I'll just talk to someone else," he replied and turned away.

"I jest, One Ninety Seven," replied Toby, throwing his arm around Walter's shoulders. "How can I help?"

Walter sighed and turned back. "It's Paige," he said. "She deliberately avoided taking a pregnancy test this morning."

"I see," replied Toby, knowingly.

"She took one last month. Two, in fact," continued Walter. "D…d…do you think she's having second thoughts about having a child with me?"

"No," Toby answered without hesitation. "Definitely not. She's more than ready to join my beautiful wife in the Pudding Club."

"Then why is she behaving this way?"

"Because… because she's Paige Dineen."

"That's not an explanation, Toby."

Toby shrugged. "She's got some niggling doubts, that's all."

"About us?"

"Nope," replied Toby. "I promise you Paige is one hundred per cent committed to your relationship, Walt and she's madly in love with you. And she's got her heart set on having your babies, that's the problem."

"I… I don't understand."

"If she doesn't get pregnant, she's gonna be devastated," Toby explained. "Not so much for herself, but for you. She'll feel like she's let you down if she can't spread your genius genes into the wider human population. You need to talk to her."

"I do, frequently," insisted Walter. "I've learnt so much since… since… y'know… and now we share our feelings and our concerns about any number of things and… and it really helps. Why hasn't she talked to me about this?"

"Because she knows it's dumb to be stressing out over it this early in the game," explained Toby. "And she knows being stressed doesn't help her chances of getting pregnant. I prescribe a dirty weekend away. Just the two of you getting down to some good old fashioned bedroom business. Get your timing right, hit a few home runs and she'll be in the family way quicker than you can say… 'in the family way'."

Walter frowned at him. "I'm not sure playing baseball would be conducive to conceiving a child."

Toby opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment about Drew, but thought better of it. "Just book a hotel room," he said. "A nice one, Walter, dust the cobwebs off your savings account. It'll work, trust me."

At that moment Paige walked over to join them. "And what are you boys talking about?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing," replied Walter, quickly. "I mean, something, but… I can't tell you what it is yet. I have work to do, I'll be in the loft." And before Paige could reply he was half way up the ramp.

Paige looked at Toby for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

"So much for spending time with Rosa today," she said, rolling her eyes. "Allie told me she's been a little quiet. I really feel for her. It's kinda funny seeing Cabe and Allie parenting a kid, though. I mean, Cabe's been parenting you geniuses for years, but this is different."

Toby chuckled. "Look at all of us, all coupled up with kids. Whatever happened to my carefree youth?"

"Your youth wasn't carefree," Paige pointed out. "Your youth was spent racking up debts in dodgy gambling dens."

Toby thought for a moment. "You have a good point," he admitted. "Anyway, just Sly and Kimmy to go and we'll need to open a Scorpion crèche!"

"Where are your girls today?" asked Paige.

"Patrick has them," Toby explained. "He's taking them to the zoo. Again. He should take out shares in that place, but they love it there. Stella can't stop talking about the 'gillers' and the 'jraffs'."

Paige smiled. "Last time I babysat, Caitlin told me all about the baby 'elewant' she saw there and how Mommy has a baby 'elewant' in her tummy too."

"Hmmm," replied Toby, with a chuckle. "Maybe we need to explain the whole baby thing again."

Just then there was a loud cheer from the other side of the garage and they turned round to see Cabe hoisting Rosa triumphantly onto his shoulder.

Toby, Paige, Allie and Happy all quickly walked over to join them by the Proton Arnold game.

"What are we celebrating?" asked Happy, massaging her aching back as she spoke.

"Rosa got on the leader-board!" exclaimed Cabe, proudly.

"Sly helped me," explained Rosa.

Sylvester blushed. "That's what friends are for," he replied.

Allie was delighted to hear Rosa speaking, those were the first words she'd said all day. "Thank you, Sylvester," she said, smiling warmly at him.

Sylvester was about to reply when the sound of Cabe's phone ringing distracted him.

"Who the heck's that?" asked Cabe, passing Rosa into Toby's waiting arms before pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans.

"I know, why don't you answer it and find out?" suggested Toby, sarcastically. He swung Rosa upside down and she squealed with delight.

Cabe sneered and stared at his phone screen with a frown. "It's Katherine," he explained. "She knows I'm on parental leave, why's she calling me?"

"I respectfully refer you to my previous suggestion," said Toby, raising his eyebrows in a taunting gesture.

Cabe glared at him and walked off towards the kitchen as he answered the call.

Allie sighed. "I hope they don't make him go back to work early," she said. "He's been so much more relaxed since he's been on leave."

"Retirement would look good on him," Toby pointed out as he sat himself cross-legged on the floor and pulled a pack of playing cards from his back pocket as Rosa sat down opposite him.

"I don't think he'll ever retire," replied Allie, joining them on the floor. "But I'm not looking forward to him going back to Homeland. I…" she paused, glancing at Rosa before continuing in a low voice. "I worry about him. I worry about all of you, of course, but Cabe… I just wish he'd cut back on the dangerous cases."

"Hey, I worry about all of us too," noted Toby, successfully managing to engage in conversation with Allie while simultaneously distracting Rosa with a card trick. "Sometimes I long for the good old days of installing wi-fi into diners. Y'know, before we got involved with worldwide threats, criminal masterminds and exploding things."

Just then Cabe's voice rang out and everyone took notice. "Gather round, team, we've got a case!"

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2 - Unexpected Guest

**-As the team discover the details of their new case, Paige is blindsided by a surprise visitor.-**

**_Thank you so much for all of your kind reviews so far, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter of this new story. I hope you enjoy this update, I'd really appreciate you letting me know._**

**CHAPTER 2.**

"A case?"

Everyone looked up at the sound of Walter's voice as he ran down the stairs to join them.

"Thought you were on leave?" offered Happy as the team assembled around Cabe.

"I am," Cabe confirmed. "This isn't exactly an official case, it's a personal request from Cooper. I've already said I'd help, but if you guys decide you don't want in on this one, I'll understand."

Sylvester nervously raised his hand. "Why don't I like the sound of this?" he asked.

"Because," began Cabe. "Because we'll be going up against Homeland. Katherine's been suspended from duty."

"What?" exclaimed Paige.

Walter frowned. "But she's only been in post for a few months."

"I know," agreed Cabe with a nod. "And she's the best Director we've ever had at Homeland, but now she's on suspension pending an investigation into what they're calling 'suspicious intercommunication with non-approved territories.'"

Toby's eyes widened. "Spying?" he said in surprise. "Oooh, Cooper's been a naughty girl."

"Katherine's no spy," insisted Cabe. "And she needs our help to clear her name."

Toby folded his arms across his chest. "But Homeland write our best pay checks," he pointed out. "Or did I miss a memo?"

Sylvester raised his hand again. "I've decided," he said. "I'm _not _in. I'm not going nose to nose with Homeland. What if Cooper's guilty and we're sent down for assisting her? You do know the maximum penalty for treason in California is execution, right?"

"Treason?" grinned Toby. "I've always wanted to commit an eighteenth century crime, but maybe we should ease ourselves in gently by robbing a stagecoach first?"

"Shut it, Doc," snarled Cabe. "Katherine's on her way here now to fill us in on the details. Like I said, you guys can stay out of it if you wish."

"I think we should help," said Paige. "Katherine's always been one of our biggest supporters, not to mention pulling us out of more dangerous situations than I care to count over the years."

"True," agreed Happy. "But she also abandoned us in Kazakhstan that time," she reminded them. "She only puts her butt on the line for us if it makes her look good."

"Oh, Darlin'," said Toby, patting her shoulder affectionately. "Third trimester pregnancy hormones have made you so cynical!"

"What about you, Walt?" asked Cabe. "Any thoughts?"

"I'm reserving judgement," replied Walter. "I'd prefer to make a fully informed decision."

"But what does your gut tell you?" Cabe asked. "You don't really think she's guilty of espionage?"

Before Walter could answer, there was a knock at the door.

Cabe glanced at his watch. "Cooper got here quick," he said with a puzzled frown, but his expression quickly changed to one of astonishment when he realised it wasn't Katherine Cooper at the door at all.

"Veronica?"

Cabe couldn't quite believe his eyes when he realised the woman who had gingerly entered the garage was Paige's mother.

Paige's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Mom! What the hell are you doing here?"

Veronica Dineen snatched the curly brown wig from her head and threw it on the floor. "So much for my disguise," she said. Then her smile grew into a broad grin. "Paige," she said, striding across the garage to greet her daughter. "I've missed you so much!" And she pulled a startled Paige into a huge hug.

Toby and Happy exchanged a bewildered glance. Veronica Dineen had – with the help of Team Scorpion – faked her own death almost three years ago to avoid being killed by a gang of arms dealers she owed money too. Since then she'd been living under a fake name, unable to contact her daughter for fear of being discovered – although Ralph had since admitted to the other geniuses he regularly exchanged messages with his grandmother using an encrypted email account, making them promise not to tell Paige.

Now she was, apparently, back and Toby and Happy couldn't help but wonder why she had chosen to risk being discovered now.

Walter stepped forward as Paige broke away from her mother's clutches. "It's good to see you again," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.

Veronica took his hand, but before Walter could stop her she had thrown her arms around him. "And you, Walter," she said. "Congratulations on winning the affections of my daughter. You and Paige are perfect for each other, I always knew you'd get her back from that Tim fellow."

Sylvester winced at the mention of Tim Armstrong, glancing nervously at Walter to see if he'd react, but he didn't.

The old Walter might well have launched into an unnecessary diatribe about how the former Homeland trainee had no redeeming qualities and that his initial assessment of the ex-Navy SEAL had been vindicated, but they'd all moved on since then and now Walter knew better than to drag up the past and risk a defensive rebuttal from Paige.

Paige wasn't at all bothered by Veronica mentioning Tim, but she didn't like the way her Mom was talking about her. "I'm not a prize in a contest!" she exclaimed, but she stopped herself before she could say anymore. She let out a slow breath, annoyed at how quickly Veronica had been able to get under her skin.

"Oh Paige," replied Veronica, rolling her eyes. "You know I didn't mean it like that. Boy, I'd almost forgotten how touchy you can be!"

Paige had a complicated relationship with her mother. A year and a half ago, after she and Walter's relationship had imploded and the team had fallen apart in such spectacular fashion, Paige had come to realise that her whole life had been deeply affected by Veronica's behaviour. Having a mother who disappeared for months, or even years at a time throughout her childhood had left Paige with deep rooted abandonment issues that she was only just beginning to overcome.

After cutting all ties with her mother for so many years, she had unexpectedly walked back into Paige's life three years ago, expecting Paige to accept her apologies and have a normal mother/daughter relationship as if nothing had ever happened, but it hadn't been that easy for Paige. Then Veronica had been forced to leave again and Paige had made peace with the fact that she wasn't going to see her again for a long time, if ever.

But now she was back again, with no explanation and Paige wasn't sure how she felt. She wasn't sure at all.

"Paige?"

It was Walter's voice, accompanied by a gentle touch to her arm. Paige did her best not to gasp as she was pulled away from her thoughts.

"What?" she snapped. "Oh, um, sorry, I was…" she trailed off and almost subconsciously glanced over at Toby.

Toby immediately recognised the look on her face. It meant _'I know I need to talk about this, but I don't want to so don't you dare try to make me'_. Toby had seen that look many times, but he always dared anyway and he immediately began planning what he was going to say to Paige.

"Is the trailer still vacant?" asked Veronica, seemingly oblivious to the torment she'd caused her daughter by her unexpected reappearance. "Just until I can organise something more permanent."

"Permanent?" repeated Paige incredulously. "How long are you staying for? What about those guys who want to kill you?"

"I heard they were long gone," replied Veronica, dismissively. "Either dead, or in prison. I don't think they care about little old me anymore. So, Walter, the trailer?"

Walter glanced awkwardly at Paige. He could tell she was upset and he didn't want to make things worse, but at the same time he couldn't say no to Veronica. To his relief Paige gave him a little nod.

"Yes, of course," he finally replied. "It's available. May need a little spring clean, though."

"Thank you," smiled Veronica.

"Wait a second," said Happy, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "If you don't think anyone's after you, why the wig?"

Veronica shrugged. "Old habits," she replied. Then she noticed Allie and Rosa had joined them. "You must be Allie!" she said with a beaming smile, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. "I knew someone would snap up Cabe sooner, or later," she added with a wink. "I'm Paige's Mom, you've probably heard all about me."

Allie smiled back at her. "Yes, well, a little," she replied. The truth was she'd never heard Paige talk about her mother at all and Cabe had only mentioned her once when he'd told her about the way they'd faked Veronica's death. "This is Rosa," she added. "She's staying with us for a few weeks."

"Lovely!" replied Veronica. She paused and looked around the garage, taking a moment to realise very little had changed since she'd last been here.

Toby watched her like a hawk. Veronica was one of the few people in the world who could pull the wool over his highly trained, genius eyes, but unlike Mark Collins, she didn't scare him, she fascinated him. He had so many questions, but getting answers from Veronica Dineen was always a challenge. Toby loved a challenge though.

Why was Veronica here? Why hadn't she called ahead, or at least told Ralph she was planning a visit? Why was she acting this way? She was giving him so many confusing markers, using her con-artist skills to good effect just as she always did, but something was different this time. Something was definitely going on and he was determined to get to the bottom of it before Paige got hurt again.

Allie looked at Paige, immediately sensing the awkwardness in the room. "Why don't we help you settle into the Airstream?" she offered, looking back to Veronica. "Like Walter said, it needs a little tidying. We haven't had a guest for a while."

The last person to stay there had been Ray a few months ago when he'd done his old trick of turning up out of the blue and inviting himself to stay for a few days… a few days that had turned into five weeks.

Allie glanced back at Paige and Paige acknowledged her with a grateful nod as the older woman led her mother away and they disappeared inside the trailer with Rosa.

"Well," said Sylvester. "That was… um… uncomfortable."

"No it wasn't?" replied Paige, haughtily. "I'm just surprised to see her. I'm not uncomfortable, I'm fine, everything's fine. Now can we get back to this situation with Katherine, please?"

"The lady doth protest too much," muttered Toby.

"Ssshh," hissed Happy. "We don't need Paige freaking out right now. Drop it."

"OK, OK," replied Toby, but had no intention of dropping it. It would have to wait for later, though.

A few minutes later, Katherine Cooper, Director of Homeland Security – albeit currently suspended – arrived at the garage and she began to give them more details of her predicament.

"It came out of nowhere," she explained as Paige handed her a cup of strong, black coffee. "I was pulled out of my office and interrogated. They gave me names, photographs, all this so-called proof that I'm some kind of spy."

Katherine was more flustered than anyone had ever seen her before. She was wearing casual clothes – jeans and a yellow, striped shirt – and she wore very little make-up.

"Don't worry," replied Cabe. "I already told you I'd help." He was more worried about her than he had expected to be after their brief phone call earlier.

"We'll do everything we can," added Walter, reassuringly.

"Wait!" exclaimed Sylvester. "I… I… can we discuss this, please?"

"It's OK," said Katherine. "I understand. I don't expect you all to risk everything for me."

Happy stepped forward. "Look, I'm pregnant," she said, not that she needed to point it out. "And the Doc and me already have two daughters. Cabe and Allie are fostering now and Walt and Paige have Ralph and… well, they're tight. Even Sly's all loved up now. We can't afford to take risks like we used to, but at the same time we're not gonna stand back and watch an innocent person go down for something they didn't do. So you've gotta promise me you're innocent."

"I promise," replied Katherine, earnestly.

Happy turned to Toby. "Doc?" she said in an enquiring tone.

Toby took a deep breath before replying. "I think she's telling the truth."

"You _think?_" repeated Happy.

"She's Homeland," replied Toby with a shrug. "They're trained liars, so they don't give away secrets easily – just in case they get kidnapped, right, Cooper?"

Katherine glared at him, but Toby wasn't finished yet.

"For all I know she's been in bed with the Russians for months," he continued. "Or the Chinese, or who knows who else? Could be a superspy, could be a sleeper agent, who knows?"

Katherine got to her feet. "I came here because I have nowhere else to turn to," she said, clenching her fists at her side. "I need your help. I'm telling you the truth," she insisted.

Tony nodded and smiled. "I know you are," he said. "At least, I do now." He'd deliberately pushed her buttons to invoke a more emotional response, one that he could be sure of and it had worked. Then his face became more serious. "And I know you're scared," he added, gently. "I'm with Walt and Cabe on this. I say we help."

"Then I'm in too," added Happy.

"And me," agreed Paige. "Sly?" she turned to face him, raising her eyebrows as she spoke his name.

Sylvester sighed. "Fine, I'll help," he said. He could never say no to Paige, not when she had _that _look on her face.

Toby raised his hand in Sylvester's direction, but Sylvester refused to high-five him. "Come on, pal," said Toby. "Risking the death penalty might take your mind off missing Kimberley?" he added, facetiously.

Sylvester glared at him. "Not helpful, Toby."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Come to bed, Paige."

Paige sighed. "Mmmm… in a minute," she replied, but she didn't turn to face Walter.

Instead she sat at her new dressing table, brushing her hair slowly.

And thinking.

She'd been doing a lot of thinking ever since Veronica had arrived that morning. Paige had made lunch for everyone - even Katherine had accepted her invitation to stay – and the afternoon had been spent gathering information about the full extent of the trouble the Director of Homeland was in.

Now Veronica was sleeping in the trailer at the garage and still Paige had no idea why she'd suddenly reappeared after all this time. She didn't buy her Mom's excuse that she missed her and Ralph – it had never bothered her all those years before when Paige had been a struggling single Mom.

Paige didn't believe her reasoning that it was safe to come out of hiding – Veronica had no proof the guys who had been after her were dead so there was every possibility they were still out there somewhere and even though they believed Veronica was dead, there's no way they'd be prepared to let bygones be bygones if they suddenly discovered she was alive after all.

So why was she here? Why now?

"Paige…"

"What? Oh, sorry."

Paige finally put down her hairbrush and climbed into bed next to Walter. She snuggled against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Is everything… I mean, are you… that is…" Walter wanted to comfort her – she was clearly upset – but he couldn't find the words.

Paige smiled against his bare skin. "I'm fine," she lied. "It's just weird seeing Mom again, that's all."

"You were quiet all afternoon," Walter pointed out. "But Veronica was… well, she was quite vocal."

"Yeah and now Katherine knows everything about my childhood," replied Paige. "I guess she was glad of the distraction. She's going through hell with all this spying business."

Veronica had talked virtually non-stop, mostly about her crazy life including the various times she'd spent in jail, much to Katherine's surprise. Paige hadn't been able to hide her embarrassment as their Homeland boss discovered everything about her mother's criminal past, but Katherine had seemed genuinely interested and non-judgemental about it all.

"Cabe and Toby reported nothing unusual after their visit to Homeland," noted Walter.

After lunch, Cabe and Toby had called into Homeland HQ on the pretence that Cabe had left something on his desk. Their real intention, of course, was to chat informally with some of Cabe's colleagues to see how much they knew about the reason for Katherine's suspension.

"Toby insists everyone they spoke to was telling the truth," continued Walter. "So either the conspiracy runs much deeper than we imagined, or Katherine Cooper is guilty of espionage."

Paige pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked down at Walter. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"No, but until we have proof one way or the other, what I believe is irrelevant."

"I get why Sly's freaking out," said Paige. "We're taking a huge risk here. If we get pulled into some kind of international incident we could be in big trouble. Maybe we should have discussed it before agreeing to help out?"

"I thought you wanted to help?" replied Walter.

"I do… I did… I just…" Paige sighed. "That was before I'd really thought about it. I'm not saying we should just turn our backs on Katherine – I believe she's innocent, I really do – but I don't think I'd really acknowledged what we were getting ourselves into. Happy's having a baby in a few weeks and I guess we all have so much going on right now, getting ourselves in trouble is the last thing we all need."

"We'll discuss it with the team tomorrow," agreed Walter.

Paige flopped back down onto the pillow. "Why did she come back?" she asked with a sigh.

"To clear her name," replied Walter, with a puzzled frown.

"Not Katherine," clarified Paige. "I meant my mother. Why now?"

"She said she's been missing you."

"I know what she said," snapped Paige, more harshly than she'd intended. "But we all know what my Mom lies for a living. Even Toby can't always see through her. She's never missed me before, my whole life since Dad died she's never missed me – at least, not enough to bother looking for me – so why now? When we ran into each other three years ago, it was pure chance. She saw an opportunity to mess with my life again and she took it."

"I don't think that's fair."

"Don't you? Well I do and she's_ my_ Mom, so I get to decide what's fair and what isn't."

Walter was taken aback by the ferocity of her response. He wasn't sure what to say next. Paige had a short temper and although she had learnt to control it much more than she ever used to be able to, occasionally he would see a glimpse of the old Paige and it worried him.

As far as he was aware, when Veronica had left – after they'd successfully managed to convince the world that she was dead – Paige and her mother were on good terms. It had taken a while, but they appeared to have put the past behind them and had rebuilt their relationship. Now it was as if they'd taken a huge step backwards – at least it seemed as if Paige had taken one – and he couldn't understand it. He had to say something. He had to calm her down.

"I've booked a weekend away."

Paige say bolt upright. "What?" she exclaimed. "When? Why? We're in the middle of a case and now Mom's gatecrashed her way back into my life again… what on earth possessed you to book a weekend away now?"

Walter swallowed hard. He shouldn't have blurted it out like that, it certainly wasn't how he'd planned to tell her and now she was angry and she'd probably make him cancel the booking and his plans for a romantic weekend were ruined.

"I… I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I… I thought you'd be pleased. I wanted to s…s…surprise you. Because I love you. I love you, Paige."

Suddenly Paige's eyes filled with tears. "Oh… Walter…"

Walter sat up and pulled her into his arms. "Ssshhh," he soothed. "It's alright, I can cancel, I…"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, don't, please. I love you too, Walter. I'm sorry I snapped, I didn't mean to."

She lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Then a small smiled crossed her lips. "Did you really book a weekend away for us?"

"Yes," replied Walter, nodding. "It's a five star hotel and spa resort. I found an encrypted discount code."

Paige burst out laughing. "Of course you did," she said. Then she smashed her lips against his, kissing him with far more passion than he could have imagined in that moment.

"So… I take it this means I don't have to cancel the booking?" he asked as Paige pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled his hips, pulling off her nightshirt as she did so.

"Don't cancel," insisted Paige. She began rocking gently against him and her lips twitched into a seductive smile.

Then she burst into tears again.

"Oh, Paige," said Walter, with concern, gently pushing her away so he could sit up again and wrap his arms tenderly around her. He could feel her trembling as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Walter," she sniffed. "It's just been a weird day."

"We seem to have a lot of those around here," replied Walter, trying to lighten the moment. It seemed to work as she lifted her head and managed a small smile.

Walter hadn't seen her like this for a long time and he wished he could understand what was going through her head so he could make her feel better. Veronica showing up had obviously upset her, but he wasn't sure why. For a moment he thought about how he'd feel if his own parents arrived unannounced and then he realised how perturbed he would be too.

He couldn't help feeling that Paige's low mood was also partly to do with trying for a baby and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for pushing the subject that morning. As much as he yearned for a child with Paige, if it didn't happen he knew they would be fine and besides, it was far too soon to be concerned about difficulties conceiving. If only Paige could accept that too.

Walter gently stroked Paige's hair and kissed the top of her head. "Everything will be alright," he said, soothingly. "We're going to help Cooper and you and your Mom are going to talk to each other and then we're going to have a perfect weekend away. It'll all be OK, Paige. I promise."

_To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3 - Deceit and Danger

**-Toby realises he has his work cut out for him with Veronica, then the team suddenly realise just how dangerous their new case might be.-**

_**Thank you to everyone who is reading this story, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you have a moment, please leave a comment - I would really appreciate it.**_

**CHAPTER 3.**

"Good morning, Sweetheart. I'm making breakfast."

"You didn't have to do this," replied Paige climbing out of her car to be greeted by the smell of bacon wafting across the garage. "We've already eaten."

"Then we'll call it brunch," smiled Veronica, slicing bread as she spoke. "It's the least I can..." but she stopped mid-sentence when she saw her grandson standing just behind Paige. "Ralph!" she exclaimed.

Ralph was a little taken aback by the intensity of the hug with which he was greeted by his grandmother. "Hi, Grandma," he managed to say once he could inhale enough air into his lungs. "Mom told me you were back."

Paige was stunned to see tears in her mother's eyes when she finally released Ralph from her arms, but before Paige could ask her if there was something wrong, Happy's truck pulled into the garage.

"Oh!" exclaimed Veronica, barely able to contain her excitement. "Please tell me they have the twins with them, I can't wait to meet them."

She rushed over to greet them, beaming with delight as Happy lifted Stella from her car seat and Toby swung Caitlin out of hers and into his arms.

"How did you sleep?" asked Toby. "Ray never complains about the bed in the Airstream, but... well, he's Ray. He could sleep on a roller coaster."

"Like a log," Veronica replied. It was a lie and she wasn't sure if she'd fooled Toby or not, but as she was a master of deception and Toby appeared distracted by his daughters she was confident that she'd got away with it.

Stella stood for a moment, staring in silence at Veronica, but Caitlin took one look at the unfamiliar face and then buried her head into Toby's neck.

Veronica chuckled and smiled sweetly down at Stella. "Your sister's so shy," she said. "You must be Stella. My name is Veronica, I'm Paige's Mommy."

Paige hadn't thought about Veronica as her 'Mommy' for a very long time and hearing her say it felt strangely comforting.

Stella, however, appeared unimpressed.

Ralph stepped forward and crouched down in front of the girl. "This is my Grandma," he explained.

Then Ralph suddenly realised Stella and Caitlin had no frame of reference for the term 'Grandma' as the only grandparents they had ever known were Patrick - who they called Gramps - and Cabe, who they affectionately referred to as Pops. Ralph glanced apologetically at Toby, but Toby just nodded encouragingly, so Ralph looked back to Stella. "Grandma," he repeated.

Stella broke into a huge grin. "Gamma!" she squealed then she threw her arms around Ralph. "Play! Play! Play!"

Ralph laughed and unwrapped her arms from around his neck. "OK, I'll play with you," he said and he took her tiny hand in his before leading her over to the box by the couch where the girls' toys were kept.

"Ralph's so good with her," smiled Veronica.

Happy nodded. "He's a natural," she replied. Then she turned to Paige. "Where's O'Brien?" she asked. "He said he needed my help with something this morning."

"He went with Cabe to see an old FBI pal of his," Paige explained. "The guy knows Katherine from way back, Cabe's hoping he might have heard something about this spying charge. They won't be long."

Just then the door opened and Sylvester rushed in. "The bus was late!" he called out as he hurried over to his desk. "I hate it when the bus is late, especially when I've got to read over some court documents _and _write a speech for a council meeting _and_ hack into historic Homeland files without landing myself in jail."

Sylvester carefully hung his bag over the back of his chair and sat himself down with a sigh.

Paige shot him a sympathetic look. "You've taken on too much, Sly," she said. "Something's gotta give."

Toby nodded. "Yeah, like your sanity, pal," he added.

"Well thank you, Toby," replied Sylvester with uncharacteristic sarcasm. "As if I wasn't already stressed out enough, now I'm going to worry about losing my marbles."

"Just some friendly advice," answered Toby with a shrug. "But I can recommend a good shrink, call me!" he added, making an old-fashioned telephone gesture with his free hand against his left ear.

Happy knocked his hand away and glared at him. "Give him a break, Doc," she urged. "You know he's missing Kimberley."

Toby raised his eyebrows in a knowing gesture, but said nothing more on the subject. At that moment, Cabe's SUV pulled into the garage and he and Walter got out.

"Sly," said Walter, before he'd even had time to close the car door behind him. "Have you accessed those Homeland files?"

Happy frowned at him. "He's working on it, boss," she replied and Sylvester flashed her a grateful smile. "So," continued Happy. "Did you find out anything about Cooper?"

"Anything juicy?" added Toby with a grin as he shifted Caitlin from one hip to the other. "Like a penchant for slasher movies? Or a meth habit?"

"Shut it, Doc," snapped Cabe. "If you didn't have your precious daughter in your arms, my foot and your ass… um, your _behind _would be getting up close and personal right about now."

Toby smiled smugly before kissing Caitlin tenderly on the top of her head.

Veronica couldn't help but notice the little girl was still clinging tightly to Toby and her face fell into a concerned frown. "Is she OK?" she asked.

"She gets a little overwhelmed sometimes," Toby explained. "Why don't we go somewhere a less crowded and I'll introduce you properly."

They headed for the kitchen, leaving Sylvester and Walter discussing the best way to get into the Homeland archives, Paige and Ralph playing with an excitable Stella and Cabe telling Happy all about the meeting with his old FBI contact.

"I'd forgotten just how hectic it can get at this place," said Veronica as they seated themselves at the table. "I guess it's a lot for a little kid."

"Stella loves it when we're all here," replied Toby. "But it takes Caitlin a while to settle and she's kinda nervous around strangers."

"I heard about the girls' accident," said Veronica. "The one that killed their birth parents, I mean." Veronica had learnt the details of the terrible car accident that had left the girls orphaned from Ralph.

Toby nodded. "Stella doesn't remember a thing, but Caitlin has some memories and we're still learning how they affect her."

"The poor baby," replied Veronica, sympathetically. "Hey sweetie," she said, touching Caitlin's arm tenderly.

"Say 'Hi' to Veronica," urged Toby. "It's OK," he added, gently.

Caitlin lifted her head and slowly turned to look at Veronica.

"It's OK," said Toby again and Caitlin finally twisted herself around on her daddy's lap.

"Now I can see your pretty face," smiled Veronica and, to her delight, Caitlin smiled back.

Veronica picked up a Chinese take-away menu that had been left on the table and held it out for Caitlin, who duly took it from her and began to play with it, carefully unfolding and folding it and looking at it with such intensity that anyone watching her might think she was actually reading it.

"I wasn't around much when Paige was this age," said Veronica, sadly.

Toby sat up straighter at her revelation. It wasn't like Paige's mother to be so honest and Toby immediately knew there was more to come.

"I guess you have a few gaps like that," he prompted, as Caitlin continued to fold and unfold the menu.

Veronica nodded. "Yes," she replied, quietly. "I wasn't a good mother, I was… away a lot. I'm just glad Paige didn't take after me. Ralph is such a wonderful young man and it's all down to her… and Walter, of course."

"We're all big fans of Ralphy-Boy around here," replied Toby with a grin. It was true that almost since the day they'd met, the whole team had developed a huge amount of affection for the young genius.

Veronica smiled at Toby's use of Ralph's nickname and she glanced over her shoulder towards her daughter and grandson.

Caitlin started squirming and so Toby set her down. She stood between him and Veronica for a moment, looking across to where her sister was happily playing with Ralph and Paige, before scampering off to join them.

"Your girls are delightful," said Veronica, turning back to Toby.

"Thank you," replied Toby. "Still can't believe we'll have three kids by the end of this month."

He paused, wondering if he should push Veronica to open up. He knew there was something bothering her, but she'd spent her life as a con artist and so she was one of the few people he'd encountered who could bypass his behaviourist skills.

"I know what you're thinking," said Veronica, suddenly. "You want to know why I'm here."

"Would you tell me the truth if I asked?"

"Well now, that would be for you to decide," replied Veronica, with a smirk.

"Still keeping me on my toes," grinned Toby, impressed at her ability to continue this conversation whilst still giving him nothing. No markers, nothing. She was very, very good at this.

"And you're still keeping me on mine," replied Veronica with a wink. "This might just be the greatest con of my life… or maybe I'm being honest for once? Maybe I really did decide to visit because I missed my daughter? There. Now it's over to you."

Toby chuckled. "I think I'm going to need some more time," he said, pointedly.

Veronica shrugged. "I intend to stay for as long as Paige will have me," she responded. "So please, take as long as you like."

With that, she winked at him and got up from her seat, leaving Toby shaking his head as she walked away. He relished a challenge, but this was more than a game, he knew that much at least. What little he'd managed to garner from his brief conversation with Veronica had left him with the distinct feeling that there was something serious going on.

Paige had had a tough time these past couple of years. The temporary break up of her relationship with Walter had left her struggling to make sense of the effects of years of insecurity and Toby was more than a little worried that whatever Veronica was keeping from her daughter – and from him - might just set back her recovery. That was the last thing Paige needed, not when her and Walter had worked so hard to repair their lives and were planning to expand their family.

"Toby!" Walter called out, breaking into Toby's thoughts. "Everyone, gather round."

Walter switched on the monitor tree as the team assembled, with Veronica staying on the floor with Caitlin and Stella, much to Happy's relief. Getting down to the floor was becoming more and more difficult these days, not to mention getting back up again.

Cabe pointed to one of the screens. "This is the list of charges Cooper's facing," he began. "I figure Sly's the only one who can make sense of all of them, but essentially she's been accused of espionage, selling secrets to the government of The South Central Republic of the African Coast."

Paige looked up at Cabe's words. "Isn't that the brand new independent territory we keep hearing about on the news?" she asked.

Toby nodded. "Formed when corrupt governments kissed the asses of even more corrupt militia groups," he noted.

Happy shook her head. "Not good."

"This is crazy!" exclaimed Sylvester. "Director Cooper wouldn't do something like this."

"I know, kid," agreed Cabe. "But these charges are sticking for now."

Ralph looked seriously at Cabe. "Then we need to unstick them," he said, with determination.

Walter wished he could reassure Ralph that they would be able to do just that, but with what little information they had, he couldn't see them solving this one anytime soon.

Happy let out a long sigh and sat herself down on a chair. Immediately, Toby looked at her with concern. "You OK, Darlin'?" he asked.

"Can't I sit down now without you thinking something's wrong?" she snapped.

Toby held up his hands in mock defence. "Is there?" he pushed.

Happy frowned. "You try standing up for longer than five minutes when you're eight months pregnant, Doc and then you can answer your own question."

"I remember when I was carrying Paige," said Veronica, looking up from the pile of plastic bricks she and the girls were stacking. "I had terrible backache and heartburn every day for the last two months."

"Classic pregnancy symptoms," noted Toby. "So far my beautiful wife's managed to avoid too much heartburn, but she's got varicose veins you can see from space!"

Happy slapped him on the arm and he yelped. "It's a good thing I love you, Doc," she hissed.

Toby smiled sweetly at her. "Love you too, Honeybunch," he replied before kissing her on the forehead.

"Can we focus?" said Walter, earning a disapproving look from Paige. "We have some information to check out, but we need to speak to Cooper again. Cabe, has she replied to your messages, yet?"

Cabe pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and stared at the screen. He shook his head. "Nothing," he said, glancing at Walter with a concerned expression.

"Oh no," muttered Sylvester. "Do you think something's happened? They can't hold her until they have evidence, so… so what if they found evidence?"

Toby shook his head. "If she's under arrest she would be entitled to a phone call," he pointed out. "She would've made contact." He looked at Sylvester with a smug grin on his face. "Or did you forget that, Mister Fancy Pants Lawyer?"

"I didn't forget," retorted Sylvester, folding his arms across his chest in a defiant stance. "But there are exceptional circumstances where…" but he didn't finish his sentence as the whole team were distracted by the sound of squealing brakes coming from outside, quickly followed by a crashing sound and then more squealing of tyres.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Paige as everyone rushed towards the window. "That sounded bad."

Walter pressed his nose to the glass to get a better view of the road outside. "I think someone's been hit," he announced.

Immediately Cabe was beside him, squinting as he took in the scene. "Oh hell," he commented, taking a step backwards. "I think it's Cooper."

Sylvester gasped. "I'll call 911," he declared, as Toby ran to his desk to grab his medical bag before following Walter, Cabe, Paige and Ralph out of the door, while Sylvester and Veronica stayed in the garage with the twins.

Cabe was the first to Katherine's side. She was lying on her back at the side of the road with her eyes closed. There was a large bruise on her forehead and her left arm was twisted awkwardly at her side. Cabe dropped to his knees beside her and pressed two fingers to her neck, sighing with relief as he felt a strong pulse. "Katherine!" he shouted at her, gently shaking her right shoulder. "Cooper! Wake up!"

In an instant, Toby and Walter caught up to the scene. "Move!" yelled Toby and Cabe shuffled backwards to allow him some space and Toby quickly set to work, checking her vital signs and her injuries.

"Is she… is she OK?" asked Paige, hesitantly as she and Ralph joined them.

Toby briefly glanced up at her before turning his attention back to his patient. "OK in the sense that she's just been hit by a car, but she's still alive, you mean?" he offered, as he prised open her eyelids.

Page shrugged, acknowledging her question had been kind of futile.

"Why didn't she let us know she was on her way here?" pondered Walter. "And on foot, too."

"Shall we leave the whys and wherefores for later?" suggested Toby, pulling his stethoscope from his bag.

Cooper made a low groaning noise and her head turned to one side. Her eyes flickered open briefly, then closed again.

"She's awake!" exclaimed Cabe, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you're OK," said Toby reassuringly, cupping the side of Cooper's face in his hand. "Take it easy, just breathe."

Cooper groaned again and her eyes opened fully this time. She blinked deeply and looked up at the sea of faces bearing down on her.

"Give her some space," urged Paige, tugging at Ralph's arm and they took a step backwards with Cabe, but Walter didn't move. Instead he began surveying the area, mentally recording every detail about the scene and his eyes narrowed as he made calculations at lightning speed.

Toby knew Katherine was in a lot of pain. Her head must be pounding, he realised and it looked like her wrist was broken, but now her breathing had become shallow and he was concerned. "Tell me where you're feeling it," he urged.

"Everywhere," she breathed and Toby flashed her a sympathetic smile. "The car… it… it…" but she didn't have the strength to speak.

Toby glanced at Ralph. "She needs a blanket," he said and Ralph nodded and raced back towards the garage.

"Did you get the licence plate?" asked Cabe as Toby palpated her abdomen.

"Oh sure," retorted Toby. "And she took a couple photos too as she was flying through the air."

Cabe scowled at him, but Toby had turned his attention back to his patient.

"Katherine, listen to me," he said firmly, but gently. "There's an ambulance on its way. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but I think you got lucky. Couple of cracked ribs, your wrist is fractured and a headache the size of Walt's ego, but it could've been a lot worse. I just need you to focus on breathing, OK?"

"OK," replied Katherine, in a shuddery voice.

Ralph came running back with a blanket and he draped it over her. "Sly's chasing up the ambulance," he explained. "And he's hacked into the CCTV camera on Florence's old building. He thinks it might have captured the whole thing."

"Do you think it was deliberate?" asked Paige, keeping her voice low.

Walter nodded. "I'm certain of it," he replied. "From the trajectory of the vehicle and the location of the impact, the car would have to have been travelling between thirty two and thirty four miles per hour and deliberately turned at an angle of approximately seventy one degrees for this to have happened. Agreed, Ralph?"

Ralph nodded seriously. "Agreed," he confirmed. "This was no accident. Someone tried to kill Director Cooper."

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4 - Always My Mother

**\- Paige struggles with her feelings as Veronica continues to cause trouble at the garage, but could there be a good reason behind her mother's behaviour? -**

_**I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter posted. **__**_**I hope you all enjoy the update.**_ I'd really appreciate a review if you would be so kind, just so I know you're still with me! **_

**CHAPTER 4.  
**

"I really appreciate this, you know."

Katherine Cooper clung to Cabe's arm as he slowly guided her across the garage towards the ramp.

"It's no bother," Cabe answered earnestly. "Someone out there tried to kill you yesterday, I don't think you should be alone. Happy's upgraded the security system so you'll be safe here. Besides, Homeland still think you're a potential threat to national security. I had to pull a few strings this morning to get 'em to agree to letting you stay here."

"And there's the little fact that you're less than twenty four hours out of surgery on that wrist," added Toby, who was walking on her other side. "So it's this, or we all move into your place."

"God, no!" exclaimed Katherine as they walked up the ramp. She turned to Cabe, intending to say something else, but the twisting motion sent a shooting pain across her chest and she let out an audible gasp, all thoughts of conversation disappearing in a flash of agony.

Toby put a supportive hand on her back. "Let's get you into bed," he said. "And I'll get you some stronger pain relief."

"I don't need..." began Katherine, but as soon as the words had left her lips she knew she was beaten. "Thank you," she said, quietly.

"Hey," replied Cabe. "You've gotten us out of enough trouble in the past, it's about time we returned the favour."

Toby eased Katherine down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. "OK?" he asked, knowing full well that she wasn't 'OK' at all.

Katherine's face was radiating pain and fear, yet she was determined to maintain her professional persona. She didn't want to appear weak in front of anyone. She forced a small smile onto her lips and replied with a single nod, just as Paige and Veronica appeared at the top of the stairs.

"I brought you some water," said Paige, placing a small jug on the bedside table. Condensation immediately began to pool around the base and Paige grabbed a tissue to soak it up.

"Should've put that on a coaster," said Veronica, in a slightly condescending tone as she stood an empty glass next to the jug.

"Gee, thanks for the great advice, Mom," Paige answered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm just trying to be helpful," retorted Veronica.

Paige turned and glared at her mother. "Y'know, I think I've just about got this," she snapped.

Before Veronica could reply, Toby's outstretched arm was between them. "Time out!" he called. "Ladies, please, no bickering in front of my patient." He looked at Paige for an explanation, but she refused to make eye contact.

"So, er," began Cabe, eager to break the tension. "Did I hear Walt and Sly mention they got something off the CCTV tape?"

"Tape?" replied Toby, with a snigger, passing two small pills to Katherine. "I guess O'Brien's out now looking for a VCR so he can watch it, is he?"

Cabe pressed his lips together, he really wasn't in the mood for Toby today. "Walt said he'd grabbed a partial plate from the camera footage, Sly's running it through international databases right now."

Veronica sat herself down on the foot of the bed and smiled at Paige. "Do you remember that tape you used to watch over and over when you were little?" she asked. "The one with those cute animals that went to school and their teacher was a raccoon, or a squirrel, or something?"

"Mom, please don't," hissed Paige.

Toby glanced at Cabe. Clearly something had happened between Paige and Veronica during the hour they were out collecting Katherine from the hospital.

"Hey, Cabe," said Toby, realising Paige was close to doing something she'd regret. "Paige and I are gonna get Katherine settled here. Why don't you take Veronica to... well, anywhere away from Paige because I don't think you or I are ready to referee another fight between these two."

"Toby!" exclaimed Paige, but Veronica waved her hands in the air to stop her talking.

"Sweetie, I think Toby has a point," she said. "You do seem to be a little, well, a little emotional today."

"Mom!"

But Cabe grabbed Veronica firmly by the shoulders and led her away before the fight Toby had predicted could begin.

Paige's lips were tightly pressed together and she glared at Toby. As much as he wanted to know what was going on, he recognised that look and realised he needed to say nothing until she'd calmed down a little in the interests of his own personal safety.

Cabe, on the other hand, couldn't keep quiet. He hated to see Paige upset and he wasn't prepared to let it go.

"What was all that about, just now?" he asked as soon as he and Veronica were downstairs.

"Oh, just a silly argument," replied Veronica, dismissively. Then she lowered her voice a little. "Truth is, I think she's threatened by my presence. She thinks I'm going to interfere with her relationship with Walter."

Cabe wasn't at all convinced by her words. "After what they've been through it'll take a whole lot more than you to cause trouble for them."

"You underestimate me," Veronica answered with a coy wink. "Oh, don't you worry," she continued at Cabe's worried look. "Causing trouble is the last thing I want to do. After all, it's thanks to me that they're together at all."

"It is?"

"Remember last time I was here she was still with that other guy. The hunk from Homeland," she explained. "The _other _hunk from Homeland, I should say," she added with another wink.

Cabe shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was wise enough not to be fooled by her flirting, but it was starting to make him feel just a little uncomfortable and he was curious to know what she was trying to achieve by it.

"Well," Veronica continued, slightly disappointed not to have invoked a better reaction from him. "Just before I left, I gave Walter some advice about how to win my daughter and it looks like he followed it. She doesn't know that, of course, unless Walt told her himself?"

"Paige and Walt don't have any secrets from each other," insisted Cabe.

Veronica giggled. "Nonsense!" she exclaimed. "Everyone has secrets. Even you. Maybe you could tell me a few over dinner one night?" She reached out and brushed her hand against his arm as she spoke.

Cafe's mouth fell open and he took a step backwards. "You… you do realise I'm with Allie, don't you?" he asked incredulously.

"Relax, Cabe," she replied. "I'm just messing with you! A girl can still have a little fun with an old friend, can't she? Allie seems very sweet, I'm very happy for you both."

Cabe was rarely lost for words, but this was one of those times. Maybe he was being unfair, but he simply couldn't trust Veronica, he couldn't take her at her word. Page's mother was a con artist - and she was damned good at it too, he acknowledged. Her surprise arrival, upsetting Paige and now blatantly flirting with him... none of it made any sense. She was up to no good, he was convinced of it... well, almost convinced.

He narrowed his eyes and locked his gaze with hers. "I don't know what your game is," he began. "But if you hurt Paige, I'll..."

Veronica looked horrified. "Cabe! I wouldn't..." she began, but she was interrupted by the sound of Walter's car pulling into the garage. She gave Cabe a final smile before walking over to greet the new arrival, leaving him slightly bewildered by the whole encounter.

Walter was barely out of the car when Veronica grabbed his elbow and took him to one side. "Walter, I need to talk to you in private," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder and not at all surprised to see Cabe watching her intently.

"It'll have to wait," Walter replied. "I have an update on Cooper."

"But this is about Cooper," replied Veronica. "Kind of. Please, Walter. I was hoping Cabe would help, but he doesn't trust me. I don't know why exactly."

"Perhaps because of your criminal record and your warped moral code?" offered Walter without a hint of sarcasm.

Veronica shrugged. "I know he's very protective of my daughter – of all of you – and I do appreciate that, but this is a matter of life and death."

Walter's eyes widened at her words. "OK, I'm listening," he said.

Veronica shook her head. "Not here," she responded and she led him over to the kitchen before continuing. "First of all, I just wanted to say how delighted I am that you and Paige are finally together. You're so good for her, she needs stability in her life. I know I've failed her as a mother and I'm not proud of the way I treated her, but..."

"Is there a point to this?" Walter interrupted her impatiently.

"Oh, yes, well I wanted to ask you... um, that is, um..." She trailed off and let out a deep sigh.

Walter wasn't sure how to interpret her behaviour. She clearly had something important to say, but now she was apparently avoiding saying whatever it was. His patience was running out, he'd just come from a meeting with his contact at the Homeland technical research department and he wanted to run something past Toby that might have significant bearing on the charges Cooper was facing. He didn't have time for whatever game Veronica was trying to play.

Veronica let out another deep sigh. "You don't trust me either," she said. "I suppose I deserve it. Look, I'm going to tell you something, but I need you to promise me you won't tell Paige."

"Paige and I don't keep secrets from each other," Walter replied quickly.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "That's what Cabe told me," she said. "It's just that it's probably safer for her if she doesn't know."

Now Walter was paying attention. "Safer?" He repeated. "Is Paige in danger? What have you done?"

"The car that tried to kill your Homeland boss lady," she began, looking nervously over her shoulder. "Are you sure she was the intended victim?"

"The vehicle made a deliberate detour from its original trajectory in order to hit her," Walter explained. "Happy and I have reviewed the available data several times. There's no doubt."

"But are you sure it was meant to hit _Cooper_?" asked Veronica. "I mean, is it possible whoever was driving that car thought she was someone else?"

Walter paused for a moment to process what she'd just said. "Someone like you?" he offered.

Veronica nodded.

"A...a...are you in... in trouble?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

Veronica shrugged. "Maybe..." she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Walter shook his head in disgust.

"I can't say any more right now," continued Veronica. "But please believe me when I tell you this is different to the other times. I can handle it by myself, but I didn't want you going off on a wild goose chase, that's all."

Walter nodded. He supposed he should be grateful that she'd come to him with this and she was right, they couldn't afford to waste time looking for a potential killer if Cooper's life wasn't in danger after all. They had enough to do trying to prove her innocence.

Walter turned his head slightly as he heard Paige's voice from the loft. He would keep Veronica's secret – at least for now – if it helped to keep her out of danger, unless Paige asked him a direct question then he would tell her everything. He would never lie to Paige again. Never. He had far too much to lose.

Walter spun on his heels and marched over to the monitor tree. To his relief, Veronica didn't follow him, instead heading back into the trailer.

"Team briefing!" he called out. Then his brow furrowed into a frown. "Where are Happy and Ralph?"

"Gone with Allie and the kids to the mall," replied Cabe.

"My beautiful wife had backache," explained Toby as he and Paige walked down the stairs from the loft. "I suggested gentle walking and she knows I'm always right."

"I see," responded Walter. "Well I spoke to Steve Gannon at Homeland. He and his team were working on a top secret project, but now they've been shut down as part of this espionage investigation."

"What kind of top secret project?" asked Toby.

"Top secret," replied Paige, rolling her eyes. "That means we're not supposed to know."

"It's a tracking device," announced Sylvester, suddenly. He'd been working so quietly at his desk all morning Paige had almost forgotten he was there. "For undercover agents working in the field. It's designed to be undetectable. They've been developing the technology for a while. I have the spec on my laptop if you're interested."

Cabe folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "I don't want to know you got hold of that do I?" he offered.

Sylvester looked at Walter and then back to Cabe. "Er, no you don't," he confirmed.

"Toby," said Walter, quickly changing the subject. "I've known Steve for a while, but today his behaviour was... different. I can't really explain it, but something wasn't right. I'd like to run it by you."

Toby grinned. "I'll make a behaviourist out of you yet," he replied. "I'll be right with you, just need a word with Veronica first."

"No he doesn't," Paige replied quickly.

Walter looked puzzled, but Toby laughed it off. "Just wanted to brief her on Katherine's care seeing as she'll be the one here with her most of the time. She's gonna need a hand with things. A _hand._ See what I did there?"

Sylvester rolled his eyes. "I thought it was her wrist that was injured?" he offered.

"She's _hand_-ling it OK, though," grinned Toby.

Sylvester couldn't take any more and he went back over to his desk.

"Hey!" Toby cried out in mock objection. "I still have a whole bunch of hand puns left."

Walter wasn't in the mood either and he went to talk to Cabe, leaving Toby with Paige.

"Kitchen," she snapped. "Now."

Toby raised his eyebrows in surprise. He'd been expecting her to avoid starting a conversation with him, but he dutifully followed her, hoping he'd get to the bottom of what was going on.

"OK," she began, spinning around to face him. "I know you think I need some kind of therapy to fix things with my Mom, but I don't. Not this time. We're fine."

"Fine?" repeated Toby, incredulously.

Paige sighed. "Yes," she insisted.

"Great!" exclaimed Toby. "Then my work here is done." He turned as if he was about to walk away.

"Wait," Paige called out… just like he knew she would and Toby turned back, keeping a neutral expression on his face.

"She keeps talking about the past and it's weird," began Paige, her face twisting as the anger built inside her. "Like she suddenly thinks my childhood was so perfect. Has she forgotten all the times she wasn't there? All the holidays she missed? All the parent teacher evenings she wasn't there for because she was on the run from the cops, or from someone she'd stolen money from, or… or in goddamn jail, Toby! And she expects me to agree that I had this idyllic, perfect childhood and she got mad at me because I called her out on it! I don't understand? We made our peace before she left here the last time, Toby. Why is she doing this?"

Toby put his hand on her forearm and he felt her tense beneath his fingers. "And… breathe," he encouraged and Paige took a deep breath, allowing the fresh air to clear her head.

She was angry with herself for allowing Veronica to get to her her like this. She'd spent her whole life carrying around so much resentment from her childhood, but in the last year and a half – since she and Walter had temporarily broken up - Toby had helped her to understand how it affected her and taught her how to reconcile her feelings. She thought she was over it. Now it had all been dragged up again and Paige felt as though she'd taken a huge step backwards.

Toby squeezed her arm supportively. He used to think Walter was the one member of Scorpion he could never quite figure out, but over the last year or two he'd come to realise Paige was far more complex. "Let me talk to your Mom," he said.

"But she terrifies you?" offered Paige, managing a small smile.

"I wouldn't say that… not exactly," replied Toby, returning the smile. "But she's kinda fascinating. I actually already have a couple theories about why she's here, I just need to figure out some details."

"I don't even know if I wanna know."

"Just leave this to me and stop worrying about it," insisted Toby. "Trying for a baby can put enough strain on a relationship," he pointed out. "Believe me, I know."

Paige screwed up her face. "What's that got to do with anything?" she asked. "My relationship with Walter is just fine, thank you. I'm not pregnant yet… not that this is any of your business… but I will be. We're going away this weekend, everything's good."

"Then promise me you'll concentrate on baby making and not your Mommy issues, deal?"

Paige shrugged and nodded. "Deal."

Suddenly a shrill sound pierced the air and reverberated around the garage.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Cabe, throwing his newspaper on the floor and leaping out of his chair as Veronica appeared from the trailer with a startled look on her face.

"Alarm upgrade!" Walter explained, raising his voice over the noise and he ran to the control unit to turn it off. "I hope Katherine wasn't sleeping," he added as he silenced the sound, glancing up towards the loft as he spoke.

"If she was she isn't now," retorted Toby. He and Paige strode across toward the monitor tree as it burst into life. "I may have to talk to my darling wife about downgrading the upgrade."

"Richard Elia," said Sylvester, pointing to the image of a yellow Lamborghini on the screens in front of them. "He's outside, probably wondering why the door won't open. We have a meeting," he added. "He's a character witness. My client is a former employee of his."

"Well, let the man in!" urged Cabe, waving a finger at the screen.

"Oh… oh, yes," replied Walter and he pressed another button on the control unit.

Veronica let out a whistle as the shiny sports car pulled into the garage. "You need to introduce me to your friend, Sylvester," she said and a broad smile crossed her lips.

"No, he doesn't," retorted Paige, but it was too late as before she could stop her, Veronica had introduced herself.

"I'm sure you've heard all about me," smiled the older woman.

"Um, well, I…" stammered Richard, awkwardly. Paige rarely spoke about her mother to anyone so in fact he'd heard nothing at all about Veronica.

"Probably for the best," replied Veronica, with a coy wink. "I have a colourful past," she added, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Richard laughed. "Don't we all?" he responded and he ran his fingers through his hair.

Veronica laughed too and briefly touched his elbow.

Toby winced at their body language. They'd only just met, but Veronica was all over him. She was an expert at manipulation, but as far as Toby could tell this was genuine. She was flirting like crazy… and Richard was lapping it up.

Sylvester stood up. "We, er, we have some business to deal with," he reminded Richard.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Veronica. "Please, don't let me stop you, but… but I'm staying here for a few days, or maybe weeks…"

Paige tried not to gasp at her words. That was the first she'd heard about her mother's long term plans.

"So," continued Veronica. "I'd be happy to, maybe… cook you a meal, one evening. For you and… your wife?"

"Wow," muttered Toby under his breath. She really wasn't wasting any time. It was fascinating to watch… at least it was for him.

Paige, on the other hand, was visibly squirming and Cabe and Sylvester didn't look too comfortable either. Walter, of course, was oblivious to it all.

"I'm… I'm not married," replied Richard, blushing a little as he was suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. "Not anymore."

"Then it's… a date?" prompted Veronica.

"Mom!" began Paige, stepping forward, but Toby held her back and shook his head. Paige interfering now was only going to make Veronica's behaviour worse and that wouldn't do Paige's current state of mind any good at all. Besides, Toby was desperate to see how this was going to unfold.

Richard had been single for a long time now and although he was still on friendly terms with his ex-wife the breakdown of their marriage had hit him hard. He was used to women fawning over him, especially once they found out how much money he had in the bank, but he never usually paid them any attention. Something about Veronica Dineen was different, though. Something _felt _different and he couldn't explain it, but he liked it.

He smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"Sure, why not."

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5 - Stirring Up Trouble

**-Veronica's behaviour overshadows everyone's thoughts - despite their own issues - but the next day there's a shock in store for Paige.-**

_**I've kept you waiting a little longer than I'd hoped I would, but I hope this slightly longer chapter makes up for the delay. I appreciate all your reviews, thank you kindly to everyone who has left one so far.**_

**CHAPTER 5.**

"She did what?"

Happy couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. She slowly lowered herself down onto the edge of the bed and stared up at Toby.

"She invited Richard Elia for dinner," replied her husband, pulling his t-shirt over his head as he spoke. "And he said yes."

"A dinner date."

"Yes."

"Not good."

Toby sighed and sat down next to Happy. "What's wrong with Veronica dating Elia?"

"Besides the fact she's a con artist and he's a multi-millionaire, you mean?"

"Don't be so cynical," Toby reprimanded her. "That's exactly what Paige is thinking and you're both wrong. Her motives were genuine."

"But you said yourself you can't always read her, Doc," Happy reminded him.

Toby smiled and began gently massaging her shoulders. "Well this time I can read her like a book," he insisted. "It's true Veronica can pull the wool over my eyes if she tries hard enough, but come on, Darlin', where's your romantic side? Elia was into her too, y'know. This could be the start of something beautiful!"

"Or it could be the start of Elia getting conned out of his fortune," replied Happy, squirming a little as Toby's fingers worked her aching muscles. "I'm gonna reserve judgement for now, but even if she and Elia are suddenly all loved up, doesn't explain why she decided to blow her cover and show up here again in the first place. Paige is _really_ pissed."

"Ain't that the truth," agreed Toby. "Veronica's been acting a little weird since she got here, but well, you know Paige - the Queen of Overreacting. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what's going on."

"When you get it, please tell Paige," replied Happy. "I can't take much more of her in this mood."

"Don't let Paige get to you," said Toby. "It's just her self-defence mechanism. She's trying to protect herself from getting hurt."

"Yeah, well, we all remember what happened last time her self-defence mechanism kicked in," noted Happy, dryly. "Scorpion went to shit."

Toby sighed and released Happy's shoulders from his grasp. He was certain it wouldn't come to that again, but he knew he had to keep a close eye on Paige. He also knew he had a big challenge on his hands with Veronica. Maybe he'd have to try a different approach?

He didn't want to think about it all now, though.

"Snuggle Time?" he offered, scampering across the bed, throwing himself backwards onto the pillows and opening his arms wide.

Happy chuckled. "Sure, why not," she replied and she slowly manoeuvred herself into position.

_Snuggle Time_ wasn't quite the same as _Sexy Time_, but it was all she'd been able to manage for the last few weeks.

"Won't be long now, Sugarplum," he said, softly. "I love you."

It was as if he'd read her mind. She loved the way he did that. She knew he could read almost everyone, but it felt extra special when it was her. She loved the way he could tell her what she was thinking – and why she was thinking it – sometimes before she knew herself.

Happy felt the baby kick as Toby's hand gently stroked her swollen belly and she smiled. "I love you too, Doc," she said. She closed her eyes and allowed a feeling of warm contentment to wash over her, but it didn't last long as her back twinged and she let out a yelp.

Toby was immediately concerned. "Here," he said, grasping her hand in his. "Try to roll onto your side."

"I'm trying," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Jeez, next time I tell you I want a baby, you say no, understood?"

Toby leaned down and captured her lips in a tender kiss. "You just wait until Baby Quintis is here," he said. "If I was a betting man – which I'm not now, just to make that clear – I'd say six months, max, before you get broody again."

"You're wrong, Doc," she insisted, shifting her weight again to try to get comfortable. "Three kids is enough."

"I'm never wrong, Cupcake."

"This time you are," retorted Happy. "The wrongest of the wrong."

"I don't think 'wrongest' is a word, Honeybunch."

"Shut up!" snarled Happy. Pedantic Toby was the last thing she needed right now.

"Ssshhh," Toby soothed. "You're just being grouchy because your back hurts." He snuggled down under the covers to spoon with her. "Why don't we talk about something else?" he suggested and Happy nodded. "So, One Ninety Seven spoke to Gannon from Homeland today."

"The Tech Team guy?"

"Yep," nodded Toby. "The guy who always checks out your booty."

"He does not!"

"Sure does. I was ready to punch his lights out last time," replied Toby. "But… I'm a bigger man than that."

"And you're chicken," chuckled Happy.

Toby said nothing.

"So what did he say to O'Brien?" prompted Happy.

"Oh, yeah, well it's not what he said, exactly," Toby began to explain. "It's what he didn't say. Walt figures he was scared of something… or someone. His team were working on that tracking device, but now this thing with Cooper means the project's on ice. He said he didn't know why, but Walt actually picked up on some markers. Gannon knew more than he was letting on, but he was scared to say anything more."

"So there's something going on at Homeland," said Happy with a sigh. "Even when Merrick was up to his dirty tricks, he was out on his own. This is different. We could be looking at major corruption here."

"Woah, slow down!" urged Toby. "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I didn't catch anything from anyone I spoke to when I went in there with Cabe the other day. I figure it's just a small pocket of sleaze, not the whole of Homeland."

"I hope you're right, Doc," replied Happy with a sigh. "I hope you're right."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"There, see? I'm not pregnant. Just like I told you."

Paige thrust the pregnancy test in front of Walter's face. He had to squint to focus on the tiny blue line.

Just the one line.

Walter sighed to himself. Of course he was disappointed, but he didn't want to let Paige see just how much and besides, like he'd already said, they were only a few weeks into trying to get pregnant and there really wasn't any need to panic yet.

He was still disappointed, though.

He took the white plastic stick from Paige's hands and threw it onto the floor.

"Walter!" exclaimed Paige. "There's pee on that!"

"Urine does not contain any harmful bacteria," replied Walter. "I'll clean it up later." He smiled at Paige. "Please sit down," he urged. "You… you're so beautiful, Paige."

"Don't," snapped Paige and turned away from him.

She didn't feel beautiful. She was mad at Walter for making her take the test. She already knew it would be negative, but seeing that single blue line rammed it home and it _hurt_. She wanted to have a baby with Walter so much and she knew there was no logical reason why it wouldn't happen in the next few months, but she felt like she couldn't wait and it was driving her crazy.

And that scared her more than anything.

"Please," repeated Walter. "I love you, I want to hold you. I want to… to comfort you. Please."

Paige turned slowly. She couldn't help but smile at his declaration. She walked towards him and fell into his arms. She closed her eyes as his warmth filled her heart and – momentarily at least – made her forget her worries.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know why… I guess I just want this so much."

"So do I."

"I know, but if… if we can't…"

"Hey, hey…" Walter interrupted her. "We don't need to think like that yet." He gently pushed her away from him- just enough so he could look into her eyes - and he clutched her shoulders tightly. "Listen to me," he urged. "All this… this stress isn't helping. This weekend, at the hotel, I want you to promise me you'll relax. Forget about everything. Forget about procreation, forget about Cooper and forget about your mother..."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Thanks for reminding me," she said. "What is she doing, Walter? She got her claws into Richard so fast the poor guy didn't stand a chance! I've never seen her act like this before. She's up to something, I just know it."

"Perhaps she simply finds him attractive?" offered Walter.

"She finds his bank balance attractive," replied Paige, rolling her eyes.

"I don't believe she's aware of the extent of his wealth," Walter pointed out.

"The car was a giveaway," noted Paige.

"Could've been a rental."

Paige shook her head. "No, she knows people, Walter. She would've spotted his ten thousand dollar watch from a mile away, the designer jeans, the expensive cologne. She knows. I need to warn him. I tried, but Toby stopped me."

"As much as I hate to agree with Toby, I think you're being a little unfair to Veronica," Walter answered.

"I don't want to see Richard get hurt," explained Paige. "Especially not by my own mother."

"I don't think you should interfere."

Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Deep down inside she knew Walter was right. Veronica would only end up resenting her and their relationship was already fractious enough at the moment. It was just one date, what's the worst that could happen? Richard Elia was a highly intelligent man, he would see through her if she tried anything. Maybe Toby was right? Maybe this was just an innocent date?

But nothing involving Veronica Dineen was ever innocent.

"OK," she said, eventually. "OK, I'll drop it, for now, but it won't be easy for me not to think about it. Their date is on Friday and we'll be at our hotel by then." A seductive smile spread slowly across her lips. "You'll have to work really hard to distract me."

Walter brushed her hair behind her ear with his right hand and smiled back at her. "I think I can manage that," he said and he kissed her softly. "I intend to be very distracting the whole weekend."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hey, Rosa!" Toby walked across the garage with Caitlin in his arms as Allie and Rosa arrived the next morning. "How was your Mom?"

"She's OK," replied Rosa, quietly. "I gave her the card I made her. She liked it."

"Great," said Toby, glancing with concern at Allie, who wore a worried expression on her face. "And I bet she was happy to see you."

Rosa nodded slowly. Caitlin reached out and touched Rosa's nose and Rosa managed a small smile.

"Caitlin doesn't like to see you sad," said Toby. He dropped to one knee in front of Rosa and stood Caitlin down on the floor. The toddler touched Rosa's face again and this time Rosa giggled and took Caitlin's chubby hand in hers. "Why don't you take her to the couch and play?" suggested Toby. "She likes building things with the wooden blocks."

"OK," said Rosa and she carefully led Caitlin away.

"Rosa got a little upset at the hospital," explained Allie when the girls were safely out of earshot. "Her mom's on a lot of meds and I think it frightened Rosa to see her like that. She wasn't really aware we were there half the time. The doctors are pleased with her progress though."

"Rosa will understand, you just need to use the right words," explained Toby. "If you need any help, gimme a shout, OK?"

"Thank you," smiled Allie.

Just then, Happy and Paige walked over from the kitchen with Ralph and Stella. The little girl had Ralph's hand tightly in hers and Toby smiled at the sight of their other daughter clinging to the young genius again.

"Rosa and Caitlin are over there building a tower, Ralphy-Boy," he said, pointing towards the couch. "Why don't you go show them the principles of a cantilever?"

"Great, more babysitting," muttered Ralph.

"Hey, bucko," hissed Paige. "You're helping the team. You can hack into a government database later, or something, if it makes you feel better. Right now, you're chief babysitter. Anyway, the kids love you."

"OK," sighed Ralph and he wandered off with Stella to join in the games.

"Katherine has some interesting information about the tracking device project." Everyone turned round at the sound of Walter's voice as he appeared from the loft with Cabe. "Where's Sly?"

"Meeting with his client," replied Happy as Walter and Cabe descended the steps. "Then he has a council meeting. Doubt if we'll see him today."

Walter frowned. "That's unacceptable. We need him here."

Paige looped her arm through his. "Walter, Sly has a lot on at the moment, but we should try to be supportive," she said. "It's probably best he's keeps busy while Kimberley is away anyway."

"Hmmm," Walter replied, sounding unconvinced.

"Hey, sweetheart," said Cabe with a smile and he kissed Allie on the cheek. "How was the hospital?"

Allie and Cabe headed to the kitchen as she explained about their visit with Rosa's mother, leaving Walter, Toby and Happy to talk over the new information they had about the case.

Paige sat with them as they ran through their plans. She heard their conversation about the so-called top secret project and about the behaviour of the Homeland Tech Team, but she wasn't really listening.

She felt… tired. Emotionally, more than physically and it bothered her more than it probably should have done.

She glanced over to where Allie and Ralph were entertaining Rosa and the twins and smiled as Stella climbed onto Ralph's lap. He would be so good with a baby brother or sister, she knew that. He'd grown up as an only child and he'd never had any friends at school in the early years. He had school friends now and it filled her heart with joy every time he was invited to a party, an outing or a sleepover with one of them, but it wasn't the same as having a sibling.

Paige had no siblings and she knew what it was like to grow up alone. . Now, of course, they both had a family and she knew she could count on Toby, Happy or Sylvester as if they were her siblings and they had already faced so many challenges together already, but it didn't make up for her lonely childhood.

When her father died - when she'd really needed a family - she'd had no one. She'd been alone.

She'd known her mother was out there somewhere, but even if Veronica had tried to make contact at that time – which she hadn't – Paige wouldn't have wanted her around.

"Paige?"

Walter's voice dragged her out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was just… um…" She closed her eyes, desperate to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

"So, can you do it, or not?" Walter asked, bluntly. "This… this is time critical, Paige."

Toby rolled his eyes. Snippy Walter was the last thing Paige needed right now.

"I was thinking about something else," replied Paige, honestly. "What is it you need me to do?"

"Go over the Homeland accounts," replied Walter. "To check for unusual activity. Normally I'd ask Sly, but he's not here."

Paige sighed. "Sure," she replied, even though it sounded like the most boring of tasks imaginable. "And don't be so hard on Sly," she added with a frown. "He's busy, he's dealing with a lot. Give him some space."

Happy nodded. "I'm with the waitress," she replied, still using her old nickname for Paige. "Give the kid a break."

Paige got to her feet. "So," she said, grateful for Happy's endorsement. "Let's summarise."

She suddenly felt a new found sense of purpose, determined not to let her woes interfere with the smooth running of Scorpion.

"I'm going to… to hack into the accounts," began Walter. "And you're going to check for anomalies. Toby will be profiling every member of the Tech Team."

Toby nodded. "Profiling the heck outta them," he confirmed. "If there's a mole I'll find 'em."

"And then we'll never hear the end of it," retorted Happy. "So I'd better get my head into those blueprints."

"For the tracking device?" asked Paige and Happy nodded. "Cabe?" she looked at the older man as she said his name.

"I'm calling some of my old contacts," he replied. "I'm working on the theory there's more to this than just trying to bring down Cooper."

Paige nodded. "Then we all have work to do."

"What can I do?"

Paige turned her head at the sound of her mother's voice. "I thought you were upstairs helping Katherine have a shower?" she said in surprise.

"I was," replied Veronica. "But we're done and now she's resting. So how can I help? I want to help."

"Take over childcare duties from Ralph," replied Paige, coldly. "Then he can work with Walter."

"Oh… OK," said Veronica. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Paige had already walked off. Instead she turned to Walter. "I probably deserved that," she said.

Walter shrugged as the others scattered towards their own desks. "I… I…" he stammered.

Veronica smiled. "It's my own fault," she said. "Um…" she paused to make sure no one else was in earshot before continuing. "You haven't said anything to her, have you? About what I told you before, I mean."

"No," Walter confirmed. "I don't want her worrying about you, not now. But… but _I'm_ worried. If you're being pursued by dangerous criminals, then you're putting us all at risk by being here."

"I wouldn't exactly call them dangerous criminals," scoffed Veronica. "It's just a little issue I need to sort out, that's all."

"You had reason to suspect they were trying to kill you the other day," Walter pointed out.

"I overreacted, that's all," Veronica answered, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's not a problem, at least not one you need to be concerned about. Now tell me all about Richard Elia. I want to know everything, I don't like surprises."

Walter frowned. "He's a… a… business associate," he replied, not quite sure what Veronica expected him to say. "Scorpion has had dealings with him over the years. He… he's a useful contact."

"Is that it?" Veronica shook her head. "Come on, Walter, I want gossip! I want details!"

Walter folded his arms across his chest in a defiant gesture.

"Then you're asking the wrong person," he replied.

Veronica stared at him for a moment, before walking off towards the couch where Allie and Rosa were playing pat-a-cake with Caitlin and Stella leaving Walter more confused than ever.

He turned his attention to his computer with Ralph soon joining him and together they were quickly able to hack into the Homeland accounts. Walter downloaded all the data and began scanning down the screen, but he soon realised he wasn't paying attention to the numbers.

"Walter!" Ralph had called his name three times already, but Walter had only just heard him. "Are you even listening to me, Walter?"

"I'm sorry, Ralph, I think I'm in need of sustenance," he replied, blinking hard. He didn't feel hungry, but it was the best deflection he could come up with in a hurry. "Perhaps… ice cream?"

Ralph shook his head. "Empty calories, Walter," he said. "I'll make you a sandwich. Cheese salad, wholemeal bread."

Walter smiled gratefully. "Thank you," he said and Ralph walked off towards the kitchen.

"Everything OK, son?"

Walter looked up at the sound of Cabe's voice.

"Yes," lied Walter.

Cabe frowned and pulled up a chair. "What did she want before?" he asked as he sat down. He leaned towards Walter as he spoke, keeping his voice low.

"Veronica?" Walter asked, slightly taken by surprise at Cabe's question.

"Who else?" retorted Cabe. "It looks to me like she's rattled you. She's stirring up trouble and I don't like it."

"Hmmm," nodded Walter. "Trouble would appear accurate."

"Listen, don't say anything, but…" began Cabe, pausing momentarily to make certain he was sure he wanted to admit this to Walter. "She… she kinda came onto me yesterday. She was flirting with me and it… well, it was… it was… it was uncomfortable."

Walter's eyes widened in surprise. "Her behaviour since her arrival has been somewhat puzzling," he concluded.

"You can say that again," nodded Cabe. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "So… what were you talking about just now?"

"Um… um…" stammered Walter. Veronica was Paige's mother and he didn't want to break her trust, but on the other hand if the team – his family – were in danger because of her then he should make Cabe aware. He'd only promised not to tell Paige, anyway, he realised. He'd made no promises about anyone else. "She… she told me something in confidence. I promised I wouldn't tell Paige."

"Not good."

Walter jumped at Happy's voice behind him. He turned to see not only Happy, but Toby too. They were both staring at him with expressions that sent shivers of recognition through Walter. He would never forget the helpless feeling in the pit of his stomach as they'd both walked out on him a year and a half ago after they'd been drawn into his painful – albeit temporary – break-up with Paige. His stubbornness and his short temper had made an already messy situation worse and instead of trusting his friends and accepting their help and advice, he'd contributed to driving them away.

They'd all moved on from that time now, of course and their friendships were stronger than they'd ever been, with both sides learning from their mistakes, but every now and again Walter would be reminded of just how close he'd come to losing everything.

"W…w…we were having a… a… a private conversation!" he exclaimed.

"Nothing's private in this place," Happy reminded him.

"Don't you both have work to do?" snapped Walter. "We're wasting time here."

Toby nodded. "Yeah, well profiling Homeland nerds ain't half as much fun as watching you, One Ninety Seven," he said. "You're distant, you're not concentrating and you've been ignoring Ralphy-Boy."

Walter's expression was one of horror – had his behaviour been that bad? His mind had been on other things, but he hadn't meant for Ralph to be upset by it.

Toby grinned and slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. "Relax, pal," he urged. "Now, let's talk about whatever it is you've been lying to Paige about before all those guilt markers you're giving out eat you alive."

Walter gasped and shook his head vigorously. "No, no, you misunderstand," he insisted.

Happy folded her arms in front of her, resting them on her bump. "Lying to Paige is _bad_, O'Brien," she reminded him. "Let's not go there again."

"I haven't been lying to Paige," Walter pleased. "That is… I haven't _technically_ been lying to Paige."

"Oh well, that's OK then!" exclaimed Toby, rolling his eyes and throwing his arms in the air in despair. "And I'm sure the lovely Miss Dineen will be fine with it when the truth comes out in some kinda ugly, messy way like it's bound to eventually. Right?"

Walter sighed and looked to Cabe for some kind of back-up.

Cabe shook his head. "Sorry, son," he said. "But I'm with the Doc and Happy. You can't afford to let Veronica of all people screw up things with Paige."

Walter nodded slowly. He knew Cabe – and Toby and Happy – were right. "OK," he finally conceded. "It could be nothing, anyway," he continued, with a dismissive gesture. "Veronica suggested as much herself."

Happy pressed her lips together and swallowed her anger. She'd hoped, after everything that had happened over the last few years, that Walter had learnt a few lessons. Now she was worried that all the progress he'd made – all the progress he and Paige had made together – would be shattered by Paige's wayward mother.

"Spill, Walt," she demanded.

For a moment she contemplated going straight to Veronica to get the details, but then she felt Toby slip his hand into hers and squeeze tightly. His way of telling her to cool it, she realised and she swallowed hard as her anger subsided… at least a little.

Walter opened his mouth to speak, but before he'd managed to get any words out, he was interrupted by Paige.

"Where's my Mom?" she asked, looking around the garage as she walked over to Walter's desk.

"I don't know," replied Walter, quickly. "W…w…why would I know?"

"And I don't know either, kid," added Cabe, just as quickly.

Paige narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Care to tell me what you're all huddled over here for?"

"Walter?" prompted Toby. "The lady wants an answer."

Walter said nothing.

Paige let out a sigh of frustration. "Never mind," she snapped. "We'll talk about this later. Right now I want to know where Mom is. I thought she was upstairs with Katherine, but I just checked and she's not there."

"Did you check the Airstream?" asked Ralph, walking back with the sandwich he'd made for Walter.

"I was just about to," replied Paige. "But why would she be hiding in there when we're all out here?"

"Peace and quiet?" suggested Happy. As much as she loved her daughters, it was hard to work with all the noise two toddlers – and their toys – produced.

Paige shrugged and walked off towards the trailer, with Walter and Ralph following her. She knocked on the door, but there was no response.

"Mom?" she called. "You in there?"

Nothing.

Paige pulled the handle and opened the door. "Mom?" she called again as she stepped inside. "Are you…?" but she stopped short and quickly stuck her head back out of the doorway. "She's gone!" she exclaimed and she stepped back out into the garage. "Her bags… all her things are gone too. She's done it again, Walter! She's left me again!"

The rest of the team ran over as Walter pulled her into a hug. "Paige… Paige…" he began and Paige lifted her head as she picked up on the anxiousness in his voice.

Walter glanced over his shoulder at Cabe and Toby before continuing. "Paige, there's… there's something I need to tell you."

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6 - Search and Rescue

**-The search is on for Veronica and Paige is not dealing with it very well.-  
**

_**I can't believe it's been over a month since I updated this story. Where did 2019 go? I'm sorry I've kept you all waiting, I hope you still want to follow this story to its conclusion. I'll try not to take so long to write the next chapter! All reviews are very welcome, thank you kindly.**_

**CHAPTER 6.**

"She told you what? Why the hell didn't you tell me, Walter? We don't keep secrets, remember?"

Walter swallowed hard. He'd been expecting this reaction from Paige and he felt he deserved it. Keeping this from her had been a mistake, he realised that now.

"Paige, y…y…your Mom didn't want you to know," he explained. "She… she didn't want you to worry about her. She assured me there was nothing to worry about anyway."

"Wait," Paige responded, standing with her hands on her hips. "So, she didn't want me to worry about something that's nothing to worry about? That makes no sense, Walter."

"I… I…" stammered Walter. Paige was right, of course, it did make no sense, but then very little to do with Veronica Dineen ever did. "I… I thought I was doing the right thing."

Paige sighed. She didn't know how to feel at this moment. She was angry with Walter for lying to her… after all they'd been through… but somehow that didn't matter. Right now the feelings of hurt and loss at her mother's sudden departure far outweighed her disappointment at Walter's behaviour. The sudden resurgence of feelings she hadn't experienced for years was almost overwhelming.

Toby looked at her with concern and willed her to hold herself together, at least until they could confirm Veronica was safe.

"Ralph," said Walter, with a sudden urgency to his voice. "Run a trace on her cell."

"It'll take me a little while," answered Ralph. At Walter's confused frown, he continued. "When she left last time I put a scrambler on her phone so it couldn't be traced by anyone who might be, y'know, looking for her. Just in case."

"Smart thinking," replied Walter, flashing Ralph a brief, proud smile. "It's OK, it won't take you long to get past it."

Ralph nodded and ran to get his tablet.

"I'll call the airport." Cabe had pulled his phone from his pocket before he'd even finished speaking. "And the bus station and…"

"Stop!"

Paige's cry had the response she had hoped for as everyone froze and looked up at her.

"Please!" she begged. "Just stop. She's gone. I know how this works, I've been through it before, remember? She doesn't want to be found."

Toby stepped forward. "Paige, I think this is different," he said. "Something just doesn't feel right. She didn't give me anything to suggest she was a flight risk."

Happy turned to look at him. "You sure you got that right, Doc?" she asked. "Not that I'm doubting your skills, husband, but…"

Toby frowned at her. "I know she's tough to read sometimes," he admitted. "And her behaviour's been kooky since she got here, but I'm telling you, she was happy and relaxed this morning." He turned to address Paige directly. "She's loved being here with you and Ralph these past few days," he insisted.

Paige rolled her eyes. "Could've fooled me," she replied dryly.

"I guess she was kinda looking forward to her date with Tricky Dicky," noted Happy.

"Ritchie Rich?" offered Toby. Then a grin spread across his face. "Or, Randy Ritchie!"

"Gross!" exclaimed Happy and Ralph in unison.

"I'm not sure what purpose is served by nicknames," said Walter, with a puzzled frown. "But we're wasting time here."

"Agreed," nodded Cabe. "Let's get out there, she can't have gotten too far just yet."

"Paige," began Walter. "You're with me and…"

But Toby interrupted him. "Bad idea, One Ninety Seven," he said, raising his eyebrows. "You take Cabe, Paige can ride with me."

"Since when did you…" Walter began to object, but now it was Cabe's turn to interrupt.

"The Doc's right," said the older man. The last thing they needed was Walter and Paige at each other's throats. That would have to wait until they knew Veronica was safe. "Two cars, standard search grid," he continued. "You and me, son and then Paige and Toby. The rest of you stay here. Ralph, do your thing and if you get a hit on your grandma's location you let me know."

Happy crossed to her desk and pulled out the familiar case of earpieces. "Comms in," she said, opening the lid and offering them to the team.

Paige took a deep breath as she pressed her earpiece into her right ear. Her Mom had abandoned her so many times in the past, she should feel numb to it, but she couldn't feel numb. Not this time, not now after the pieces of her life were finally falling into place. How could this be happening again?

But maybe Toby was right? Maybe this time it was different? Paige didn't know how to feel about that possibility though. She knew how to feel when her mother left her without warning - she'd been there too many times before - but she didn't know how to feel about the idea that there might be a good, potentially _dangerous_ reason for Veronica's disappearance this time. Her head was spinning and she felt like she wanted to either scream, or curl up into a ball until it was all over.

"Paige?"

It was Toby's voice. Not Toby's stupid jerk voice, she realised, it was his professional voice. Paige knew she must be displaying a whole host of signals that gave away her inner turmoil to his highly trained skills and she tried desperately to retain control.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Come on, let's go."

Toby and Cabe exchanged a worried glance as they headed towards the cars, but they didn't have time to talk about their concerns for Paige and Walter now. Minutes later they were out in the LA traffic and their only focus was finding Veronica.

Cabe and Walter headed downtown. Cabe kept his SUV at a steady speed, while Walter's eyes were fixed on the surroundings.

"You OK, Son?"

"Huh?"

Cabe slipped his comm from his ear so he could talk privately to Walter. "I said, are you OK," he repeated.

"Oh," replied Walter, removing his own earpiece in a copycat motion, although he wasn't sure he was in the right frame of mind for a private conversation with Cabe. "Yes."

"Is that it?" snapped Cabe. He immediately wished he hadn't let his frustration show and shot Walter an apologetic glance.

"Um, yes, that's it. I'm OK, Cabe," Walter replied. He recognised that Cabe was expecting more, but he didn't know what he was supposed to say. "I'm concerned for… for Veronica's safety," he added, hoping that would satisfy the older man for now.

The lights went green and Cabe pulled away. The low hum of the engine was barely noticeable to him as he drove, but Walter had fixated on the sound. He quickly calculated the decibel level, making a mental note to speak to Happy about fine tuning the engine.

"Y'know, Walter," began Cabe, aware that Walter was deliberately occupying his mind with anything to avoid conversation. "A lot's happened in the last eighteen months," he continued. "This isn't the same as before. Sure, Paige is mad and yes, you shouldn't have kept Veronica's little revelation to yourself, but..."

"It wasn't a revelation," Walter corrected him. "She simply shared a... a... a concern for her own safety with me about which she subsequently changed her mind, rendering it irrelevant."

"Not sure Paige sees it like that," noted Cabe. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is once we know Veronica's safe, Paige will calm down and you two can talk through this. You're so much better at that kinda stuff now. You'll be fine."

Walter stared at Cabe. He desperately wanted to believe his words and he responded with what he hoped was a casual nod, but inside he was terrified. Terrified of losing Paige.

It was just too unbearable to contemplate.

"Cabe, have you considered proposing to Allie?" he asked, suddenly.

"Proposing?" repeated Cabe, stunned by the sudden line of questioning.

"Marriage."

"I guessed that much," replied Cabe, rolling his eyes. "And, um, yeah, I have. Allie and I have talked about getting married a few times, but we both kinda figured we're OK as we are for now."

"Hmmm."

"Why?" asked Cabe. "Are you… are you gonna ask Paige to marry you?"

"I… I intend to. One day," replied Walter.

Cabe's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, Walter, that's… that's great!" he said. Then his eyes narrowed. "Is this what the weekend away is for?" he asked. "Are you planning to…"

"What? No!" exclaimed Walter, interrupting him. "Not at all. I… I… I booked this weekend away in order to… um… to facilitate intimacy without interruption."

Walter felt his face flush red as he spoke. He desperately wanted to be alone with Paige. It was even more important now. He wanted to talk to her, of course - to apologise - but also he wanted to show her how much he loved her. He knew they were good at it.

Intimacy. Making love. Sex.

Whatever Paige wanted to call it, they were good at it. They always had been, even when their relationship had almost fallen apart. In those first few weeks and months after they'd rekindled their romance, Walter had realised that no matter how badly he'd struggled to _tell her_ how he felt, how hard he'd fought to express himself with words, he could always _show her_ how he felt.

Cabe chuckled. "I get it," he said. "You're trying for a baby. I remember what that was like," he added with a wink. "I remember once Rebecca and I were at the airport and…"

Walter tensed. He really didn't want to hear the rest of this story and he deliberately showed Cabe the tiny comm device between his thumb and forefinger before putting it back into his ear. Just as he did so, he heard Ralph's voice.

"_I've got a location!"_

Paige's anxious voice came back almost immediately. _"Where is she?"_

"_At the beach. At least, her phone's at the beach_," replied Ralph. _"I'll text you and Walter the coordinates."_

Walter sat up a little straighter and watched as the message appeared on his phone. "We're at least fifteen minutes away," he responded. "Paige? Toby? Are you closer?"

"_Three minutes, tops,"_ replied Toby.

Cabe exchanged a glance with Walter. "We'll meet you there," he said he slammed on the brakes and spun the SUV around.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Why did you bring your med bag?"

Paige's heart was pounding as she leapt out of her car and inhaled a deep breath of sea air. She'd insisted on driving, despite Toby's protests and now she'd parked the car badly across two marked bays, but she didn't care. Her Mom was here somewhere and she was mad and scared at the same time. She glared at Toby, realising he hadn't answered her question yet.

Toby shut the car door and swung his bag over his shoulder. "Because I like to accessorise," he replied, with a smirk.

"You think she could be hurt, don't you," pressed Paige as she and Toby headed towards the sand at a brisk pace. She didn't really want to hear his answer. Veronica had told Walter she thought she might be in danger – even if she had seemed to change her mind since then - so there was no way of knowing if she was hurt or not.

Or worse.

Or, of course, she might not even be here at all. They might just find her phone lying in the sand and Paige didn't know how she'd react if that happened.

"Hey," said Toby, reaching out and grabbing her hand in a supportive gesture as they walked. He nodded towards the bag on his shoulder. "Just in case, OK?"

Paige nodded appreciatively. "Ralph, you still with us?" she called out.

"_Right here, Mom," _replied Ralph from the garage. _"You're close, you should be able to see her now. Can you see her?"_

Paige stopped walking and looked from left to right, squinting slightly as she scanned the beach. It was late in the afternoon and many of the people who would have been there earlier enjoying the sun, or catching a few waves, had already left. Paige saw a young couple kissing under a parasol, a group of five women around her age lying on colourful towels and a family of five enjoying a beach volleyball game.

But no Veronica.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked Ralph. "I can't see… oh, wait."

Paige let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and pointed across the sand. Veronica was sitting on the sand beside a large rock with her bags at her feet and before Toby could acknowledge her, Paige had slipped out of her shoes and started running towards her mother.

Toby immediately followed her. "Nice work, Ralphy-Boy," he said as he picked up his pace. He couldn't really tell from this distance, but Veronica appeared unhurt and he allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

Paige dropped to her knees beside Veronica. "Mom!" she exclaimed.

Veronica turned her head slowly. "Oh, hi, sweetie," she said, just as a slightly out of breath Toby reached her.

Veronica's casual greeting stunned Paige and she tried to respond, but she couldn't form a sentence. Paige had so many questions to ask her, but she didn't know where to start. Why did she leave? Why did she think someone was trying to kill her? Did she have any idea how her own daughter was feeling right now?

No, of course she didn't, Paige realised. She'd never had any idea, not once, not any of those times she'd left in the past.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Paige finally exploded.

Veronica smiled warmly. "Do you remember when we used to come to the beach?" she asked.

"What?" replied Paige, incredulously. "No, Mom, I don't remember… because it never happened!" Paige shook her head in disbelief. Then a memory flashed into her head. "No, wait," she said. "There was one time I remember we came to the beach and you made me run crying to the ice cream seller and tell him I was lost so I'd get a free ice cream because we never did anything together unless it was a scam!"

"Oh," replied Veronica. She turned to Toby and her brow furrowed. "Oh," she repeated.

Toby was growing concerned by her behaviour. She was acting completely out of character – the Veronica Dineen he knew would never have let Paige's words go without fighting back, but she seemed more confused by them than anything else. He sat himself down cross legged on the sand next to her. "Hey," he said, gently. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Paige threw her arms in the air in despair. "Does it matter?" she asked. "I just want to know why! Why, Mom? Why did you leave?" Her voice cracked, but she gritted her teeth and continued, even louder now. "You always leave me! Why?"

"Paige," began Toby, shooting her a warning look. "Now's not a good time."

"Really?" retorted Paige, with a sneer. "When is a good time, then, Toby, huh? When is a good time for my mother to tell me why she abandoned me? Over and over again! Do you have any idea what that feels like?" She turned back to Veronica. "Do you?" she yelled.

Toby reached out and grasped Paige's forearm. "Paige…"

She shrugged him off. "No, Toby, I'm not letting this go. You remember what a mess I was eighteen months ago? I can't go there again, I won't, I refuse to go there again, but I can feel it bubbling away in the back of my mind and it's all because of her!"

Paige felt the tears stinging her eyes, but she couldn't stop. It was as if years and years of hurt had manifested themselves into something tangible and Paige had a very, _very_ firm grasp of it for the first time in her life. She glared at Veronica. The older woman hadn't said a word, but her uncharacteristic silence hadn't registered with Paige.

"I _needed _you, Mom! I was just a kid, how could you have been so selfish? Did you ever think about what you were doing to me? And now you've done it again! I was a fool to think you could change, I was a fool to think you could be a real mother to me. So many times I needed you and you weren't there and now every time I need someone – like I need Walter – I'm just waiting for them to walk out on me, just like you did. Every single time! Walter doesn't deserve that, Mom. You screwed with my head and it's always going to be there, eating away at me. Even the best shrink in the world can't fix me!"

Toby grabbed her arm again. "Paige, enough," he commanded. "Take a breath, or take a walk."

Paige gasped at the seriousness in Toby's voice and immediately fell silent. Her breathing was heavy and she fought to calm herself down.

"But, er, thanks," Toby added.

Paige shot him a confused look.

"For 'The Best Shrink in the World'," clarified Toby with a wink.

Paige rolled her eyes.

"But really," added Toby, all the seriousness back in his voice. "I think you've said enough." He tapped his right ear with his forefinger and raised his eyebrows in a knowing gesture.

Paige gasped. "Ralph..." she whispered and she felt her throat constricting and sweat started to bead at her temples. Of course the team would have heard every word over the comms. Including her son.

Veronica, however, appeared oblivious to Paige's outburst. She stared out across the ocean, blinking slowly, seemingly mesmerised by the waves rolling in.

It was then that Paige suddenly realised that her mother's behaviour was far from normal and she forced herself to push all thoughts of Ralph aside for now. "Mom?" she said, but Veronica did not reply.

"Hey," said Toby, addressing Veronica. "Hey," he said again and this time she turned her head. "There you go," he said, with a grin, relieved that she'd responded to him. "Now, I need you to focus for a second, can you answer a couple questions for me?"

"Sure," replied Veronica with a slow nod. She looked down as Toby checked the pulse in her left wrist, but didn't query his action.

Paige almost asked him to check hers too as her heartbeat began to pound in her chest. "Toby, what's wrong, is she sick?" Paige asked him.

It hadn't crossed her mind that there might be something wrong with her mom and Paige fell back onto her haunches, steadying herself with her hands as a wave of panic coursed through her.

"Not quite sure yet," admitted Toby. Then he turned his attention back to Paige's mother. "You still with me?" he asked. Adding, "Good," when she nodded. "So," he continued. "Do you remember, maybe, hitting your head this morning?" he asked.

Veronica thought for a moment before answering simply. "No."

"OK, OK," replied Toby as his mind ran through other possibilities. He gently lifted her upper eyelids with his thumb – first one then the other – squinting as he studied her dilated pupils. "So, I need to ask this and there's a good chance you might whack me when you're feeling better, but are you… are you using anything right now? Drugs, I mean?"

"Toby!" exclaimed Paige.

Toby looked at her with sympathy. "I gotta ask," he explained.

Paige knew he did, of course, but the thought that her Mom's weird behaviour had anything to do with drugs…

Oh god, maybe she was an addict? Maybe she'd come back desperate for her daughter's help and all Paige had done was push her away and now…

No.

Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "She's not on drugs, Toby," she insisted.

"What about prescription meds?" asked Toby, looking at Veronica expectantly for an answer.

"Umm… meds?" Veronica replied, her face falling into a puzzled frown. "No… no… um… yes… my pills…yes…"

Paige wasn't prepared to wait another second. She needed to know what was going on and she needed to know right now. She grabbed Veronica's bag and emptied it onto the sand.

Paige rifled through the contents of the bag - sunglasses, make-up, packets of chewing gum and a dog-eared romance novel. Then she saw the pills. Two small bottles with printed labels. She picked them up and handed them to Toby.

Toby quickly read the labels and glanced at Paige. "I think I know what's going on here," he said.

"What?" demanded Paige. "Tell me, Toby!"

"Don't worry," he tried to reassure her. "It's easily fixed. Let's get your Mom back to the garage."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"They've been in there for ages." Ralph glanced over his shoulder towards the trailer for what seemed like the hundredth time since the others had arrived back at the garage with his grandma.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Cabe tried to reassure him. "The Doc knows what he's doing. If it was anything serious they'd be at the hospital by now."

When Cabe and Walter had arrived at the beach, they'd found Paige and Toby leading a dazed looking Veronica off the sand and Cabe had found it disconcerting to see her in that state.

Paige had said something about her mother's medication – which Cabe knew nothing about – and Toby had made a few quips to try to lighten the situation as they'd helped Veronica into the car, but Cabe was sure he simply been trying to distract Paige from worrying too much.

Now the rest of the team – minus Allie who had taken Rosa and the twins to Kovelsky's – were gathered around the table. Even Katherine had ventured downstairs and she slipped her arm around the teenage genius.

"Y'know, Ralph," she said. "Your Grandma has been doing a real good job of taking care of me these past few days. She has some crazy ideas, but she really cares."

Ralph smiled at her. "That's Grandma," he replied, proudly. Then his smile faded. "I just wish Mom could see it. All that stuff Grandma did years ago… it's in the past now. She needs to get over it."

"Hey," said Happy. "It's not as easy as that. My Dad left me at an orphanage when I was three years old. It ain't the kind of thing you just leave in the past."

Ralph looked at her. "But you and your Dad are cool now, right?"

"Yeah," agreed Happy, nodding slowly. "But it'll always be there. I love my Dad and I love having him back in my life, but it doesn't change what he did. I guess… I guess I just found a way to live with it. But me and your Mom are different, Ralphy. _Very_ different. And she needs to find her own way somehow."

Ralph sighed. "I thought she already had," he admitted, sadly.

"I think…" began Walter, a little hesitantly. "I think she just needs more time."

Cabe raised his eyebrows in surprise and nodded in approval at Walter's comment. When Cabe had first reconnected with Walter, almost seven years ago now, the genius would never have entertained the idea of giving someone "time" to come to terms with an emotional situation. He would have considered such things to be inefficient. But Walter had changed, he'd made so much progress and the development of his EQ never ceased to amaze Cabe.

Finally, the door of the trailer opened and Paige stepped out.

Ralph got to his feet to greet her, but she waved her hand in front of her in what she hoped was a calming gesture. "Grandma's fine, Ralph," she said as she walked over to join them all. She took a deep breath and looked at the assembled group. "So, Mom has a condition… um, I've already forgotten what it's called, I guess Toby can tell you… but she's taking two different types of meds and, well, Toby thinks she took the wrong dose this morning. It looks like she took a double dose of one of her pills and didn't take the other one at all and I guess it messed with her head."

"Hell," responded Happy. "But she's OK now, right?"

Paige nodded. "Toby's just making sure, but she seems back to her old self."

"That's good news," said Walter with relief. It didn't really explain everything, but at least it explained her disappearing act. There were more questions to be answered, he was certain of that, but at least for now Paige knew her Mom was safe and hadn't abandoned her again.

"Um, I, er…" began Paige, but she couldn't form a sentence. She was acutely aware that everyone had heard her outburst at the beach and she wished she could take back the hurtful things she'd said. Every word was burned into her mind and it hurt to think. "Walter, can I talk to you in private?" she said eventually.

Walter got to his feet and, with a quick glance at Cabe, he walked with Paige to the back of the garage where they were out of earshot of the rest of the team. "You want to cancel our weekend plans," he said, before she had a chance to speak. "I understand."

"No!" Paige exclaimed. "No, I still want to go. I _need _to go, Walter. I just… I know you all heard me. Ralph… everyone… you all heard the things I said to Mom. And… and I know it must have reminded you of… of when I…" she trailed off and sighed deeply. "Come on, Walter," she said. "Don't make me spell it out to you. I'm so sorry."

Walter didn't say a word. He just pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

Paige drew strength from him and allowed herself to feel safe and secure. In that moment she knew, probably for the first time she knew for sure that he had forgiven her for all the hurt she'd caused him. "I love you, Walter," she whispered.

"Reciprocated."

_To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 7 - Date Night

**-Paige and Walter get away from it all while Veronica prepares for her romantic evening.-**

**_It's been too long since I posted a new chapter. I promise I will never abandon this story! I'm ever hopeful that I'll be able to update more frequently soon. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter. All reviews very gratefully received, thank you kindly!_**

**CHAPTER 7.**

"Hey, you guys!"

Sylvester leapt out of his seat as Walter and Paige arrived at the garage with Ralph the next morning. He high-fived Ralph as the younger genius headed straight for the kitchen to look for snacks.

"Hey... oh!" Paige exclaimed as Sylvester threw his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry," said Sylvester, breaking away from her to speak. "I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I heard what happened with your Mom and..."

"It's OK," Paige interrupted him. "We found her quickly enough." She paused to glance around, relieved to see only Toby in the kitchen with her son. "Is... is she...OK this morning?"

"I think so," answered Sylvester. "She's up in the loft with Cooper."

Paige nodded and let out a slow breath. She knew she needed to talk to her mother, but she didn't want to do it now. Maybe Veronica had been too spaced out yesterday to take in what Paige had said to her on the beach, but Paige had shocked herself at the words that had come tumbling out of her mouth and she didn't know how to process what she was feeling. Right now all she wanted was to get on the road with Walter and get to their hotel. She'd never felt the need to get away for a few days as much as she did at this moment.

"Sly," began Walter, "I emailed you some files, I need you to..."

"I'll get onto that right away," Sylvester jumped in.

"But... but I haven't told you what I..." began Walter with a frown.

"I'll figure it out," Sylvester assured him. "I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday."

Walter's frown deepened. "You've already apologised," he pointed out.

"I apologised to Paige," Sylvester clarified. "Now I'm apologising to you because I missed a day's work. Please dock my pay. In fact, dock two days."

"Sly!" exclaimed Paige. "Walter's not docking your pay! I think you work enough extra hours already, you've got it covered. Right, Walter?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course," replied Walter, although he didn't sound at all convinced.

"Once more with feeling, One Ninety Seven?" suggested Toby, striding across the garage to join them with a grin on his face.

Walter scowled at him.

"Toby," said Paige, grabbing the Doc by the arm. "I need to talk to you." And she marched him away in the opposite direction before he could say or do anything else to push Walter's buttons.

Walter watched them go and then turned back to Sylvester. "I... I know I don't always show it," he began. "But I do appreciate everything you do for me and for Scorpion."

Sylvester smiled broadly. "I know," he replied, blushing slightly.

"And... and I understand you're dealing with a lot right now," Walter continued. "So if you need any more time off, or... or if there's anything else I can do to help... please, just say so."

Sylvester stood quietly for a moment, fighting to quell a rush of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Then he stepped forward and pulled Walter into a huge bear hug.

"Thank you," he whispered.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Wow! This room's huge!"

Paige stood just over the threshold of their hotel room, taking a moment to absorb the luxurious surroundings that would be their home for the next two nights.

"It was the best value, in terms of square footage per dollar, for hotels in this price bracket," Walter responded. "I'm glad you like it."

Paige giggled. It was such a typical response from him. Had he even been aware of the antique furniture in this room before he booked this hotel? The luxury fixtures and fittings? The complimentary Champagne that was sitting invitingly in a silver ice bucket, with two crystal glasses standing beside it? Of course not.

But she didn't care. She turned and surprised him with a kiss. "I love it," she said. "This is going to be a great weekend!"

Walter smiled and pulled their small suitcase into the room before closing the door behind them. He paused for a moment to watch Paige as she began to inspect the room. She had been quiet on the journey – not silent, they'd chatted a little about unimportant things – but it had been obvious even to Walter that her mind was elsewhere.

Paige had talked to Toby for about half an hour before they'd set off on their journey and Walter wanted to ask if the Doc had been able to put her mind at rest about what was happening with her mother, but he didn't want to pry. She'd tell him in her own time, he realised.

Paige grabbed the restaurant menu and sat back on the bed. The pillows and cushions behind her head felt so comfortable and for a moment she thought about closing her eyes, but then she realised how hungry she was and her eyes returned to the menu.

"There's a huge choice of fish for you on this menu," she began. "We should call down and make a reservation."

"What?"

"For dinner!"

"Oh…yes," agreed Walter.

Paige looked up at him, about to ask what time he wanted to eat, but before she could speak he produced a small package from behind his back and thrust it into her arms.

"Walter!" exclaimed Paige with a delighted smile on her face. The package was delicately wrapped with tissue paper and ribbon and a gold bow was placed neatly in the centre.

Lingerie, thought Paige. Walter never bought her lingerie, but what else could it be? This really was going to be a great weekend!

She began carefully opening the package.

"I… I need to use the bathroom," announced Walter before she'd even removed the ribbon.

"I'm not surprised," Paige called after him. "I told you to go at the gas station like I did."

She chuckled as she thought about his insistence that the additional time it would have taken for him to use the tiny bathroom after he'd filled the gas tank when they were less than half an hour away from the hotel would have been inefficient.

Paige quickly removed the rest of the wrapping from her gift and lifted the contents.

Then her face fell.

It wasn't lingerie at all, it was… an apron. A plain, white, apron with a large pocket on the front.

"What the hell…? Walter…?"

At that moment Walter emerged from the bathroom and Paige's mouth fell open. She sat bolt upright on the bed as her brain tried to process the sight that met her eyes.

Walter was dressed in just his boxers… and a high-vis vest and hard hat. He strode purposely across the room and stopped a few feet in front of her.

"I'd like to order a coffee, please," he said.

His voice was stilted, almost robotic and Paige was totally bemused.

"Do you want me to order room service?" she asked, screwing up her nose in confusion.

Walter took two steps forward. "Um… no," he replied. "I'd like you to get me a coffee, p…please, waitress."

"Waitress?" repeated Paige. She was beginning to wonder if he'd lost his mind. "Walter, I have no idea what you're…" began Paige, but she was so confused she couldn't even finish her sentence.

Walter let out a sigh. "You're supposed to be wearing the apron," he hissed, as if worried that someone else might hear him.

There was a moment of silence, then suddenly the realisation hit her. "Oh… my… oh my god!" Paige exclaimed and her puzzled expression was replaced by one of excitement and disbelief. "You're role-playing!"

Walter nodded. "Yes, yes," he agreed, emphatically. "I'm a construction worker. I assumed you would have figured that out."

"Well, I… I mean I just didn't expect…" began Paige and she hurriedly tied the apron around her waist. Her mind was racing and the huge smile already on her face grew even wider. "I just can't believe you…"

"It works for Happy and Toby," Walter explained. "They talk about it often… too often. I thought it might be worth a try."

"Oh, yes," replied Paige, leaping to her feet and grabbing the hotel branded notepaper and pen from the bedside table. "Definitely worth a try. Now, what can I get you? Just a coffee?"

Walter cleared his throat and got back into character. "Yes, please."

Paige smiled coyly at him. "Take a seat at this table," she responded, nodding towards the bed. "I'll just get this. You must be so tired after all that construction work you've done today."

"Um… indeed." Walter wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do now, but he was prepared to do anything to make Paige happy and this plan seemed to be working so he decided to follow her lead.

Paige turned away briefly and then almost immediately turned back, her hands held out in front of her. Walter assumed was holding an imaginary cup of coffee and he reached out and pretended to take it from her.

So far he was not feeling at all sexy.

Maybe this had been a mistake after all? Toby was always so enthusiastic when he spoke about how he and Happy incorporated role play into their love life that Walter had assumed he and Paige could make it work.

What was meant to happen next, though? He smiled awkwardly at Paige and pretended to sip his imaginary coffee.

Paige smiled back at him. "Remember that time you showed those drama students a thing or two about Shakespeare? This is the same thing, it's just acting," she said. "Relax, you're good at this," she added with a wink.

Her reassurance was enough for now and he nodded and let out a breath.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything else?" offered Paige, slipping easily back into character. Then she sat on his lap. "I can offer you the special?" she suggested, sucking her lower lip in between her teeth.

Walter put down his imaginary coffee cup. "Will I like the special?" he asked.

She smelled of lavender, as she always did and Walter's heartrate increased rapidly as he allowed his senses to absorb her closeness.

"Oh yes, you'll love it," replied Paige. She swung one leg over until she was straddling him and then she pressed her lips to his. "You'll love it," she repeated, breathlessly. "Buckle up, construction worker."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Maybe I should've worn the other one?"

Katherine couldn't help but laugh at Veronica's agitated state. "Relax," she urged. "The dress is fine. You look great. Richard Elia's not gonna know what hit him."

Veronica sighed and began to wonder if this had all been a mistake. She'd only met Richard once, very briefly and yet now here she was preparing for their date. She rarely felt this flustered about anything – she could usually walk into any situation oozing confidence and get exactly what she wanted - but this was different.

This was real.

It wasn't a con, it was honest and truthful… and that's exactly why she was so scared.

"Thanks," she said. "Now, are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"I'll be fine," replied Katherine. "I've got snacks, drinks and the movie channels. Everything I need for a great evening. And don't worry, I'll be using those noise cancelling headphones Happy gave me so you and Richard will have complete privacy."

Veronica laughed. "I don't think we'll be doing anything… y'know… _noisy_!" she said.

Katherine shrugged. "You never know," she replied.

Then suddenly the security alarm went off and both women clasped their hands over their ears.

"Jeez!" exclaimed Veronica. "I thought Walter said they were going to turn that thing down!"

She raced over to deactivate the device, glancing at the monitor first to make sure it really was Richard's arrival that had set off the alert.

"Nice car," noted Katherine as the garage doors opened and the black Corvette pulled in.

Veronica nodded. She'd been impressed with the Lamborghini, but the Corvette was even more beautiful. And expensive. Paige had mentioned Richard had a fleet of cars at his disposal, but seeing this one in the flesh made her tingle with excitement.

Or maybe it wasn't the car that was making her tingle?

She gasped as Richard stepped out of the car. Last time she'd seen him he'd been in casual clothes – expensive casual clothes, but casual nonetheless. This time he had dressed for the occasion in smart black trousers, and a light blue shirt and he looked… _good_! He had a jacket draped over one arm and he carried a bottle of wine in the other hand as he strode across the garage.

Katherine squeezed Veronica's arm encouragingly. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said, with a mischievous wink and then with a friendly wave to Richard, she headed up to the loft.

"Was it something I said?" asked Richard, handing the bottle to Veronica.

Veronica laughed. "No, she's fine, just a little tired," she explained. "And I guess she didn't want to play gooseberry this evening."

Richard chuckled. "Well, I'm glad," he replied. He hesitated for a moment before leaning in to kiss Veronica on the cheek.

Veronica turned her head a little awkwardly and let out a high pitched noise as his lips touched her cheek. Then she blushed hard. This was ridiculous, she thought to herself. She felt like a teenager again.

_Pull yourself together, Dineen!_

She glanced at the bottle of wine in her hand. "Oh, Italian!" she exclaimed. "I love Italian wine. Shall I get some glasses?"

"Unless you want to swig it from the bottle," replied Richard with a wink.

Veronica's knees almost buckled and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

"I spent some time at a vineyard in Italy a while back," she began, regaining her composure as she headed towards the kitchen. "I was running wine tasting tours, they were really popular."

She grabbed a corkscrew from the drawer and was about to start opening the wine when Richard took it from her.

"Let me," he said.

Veronica just smiled. She was perfectly capable of removing the cork herself, but in that moment she was quite content to let him do it for her.

"So," continued Richard. "Which region?"

"Huh?"

"In Italy," Richard clarified. "Which wine region?"

"Oh, right. Piedmont," replied Veronica. "It was beautiful there, I would have stayed longer – the tour business was really successful."

"Why did you leave?" Just as he finished his question, Richard pulled the cork from the wine bottle with a loud 'pop' sound.

"Oh, um, well, let's just say the owners of the vineyard weren't too happy when they found out about my tour business," explained Veronica, placing two wine glasses onto the worktop.

"They didn't know?"

"No," admitted Veronica.

She began to wish she hadn't told him this story. She wanted him to know the truth about her past, but perhaps she should have at least waited until they'd sat down to eat?

"Then things got kinda messy… turns out they were _connected_."

Richard was shocked and he momentarily stopped pouring the wine. "Mafia?"

Veronica nodded. "Yup," she replied. "I had to skip town in a hurry." She glanced up at him. "Told you I had a colourful history," she said, with a shrug.

Richard finished pouring the wine and handed one glass to Veronica. "Do you do that kind of thing often?" he asked.

"Not anymore," replied Veronica. "And don't tell me you haven't Googled my name already."

Richard chuckled. "I may have done that," he admitted. "But the most interesting thing I discovered about you was that you're dead."

"Oh, yes, that," Veronica acknowledged. "Long story. I am officially dead, that's true. Paige and Walter and the team helped me with that one, got me out of a sticky situation."

"Another one?"

"Yes."

There was a pause. Veronica half expected Richard to turn and walk away, but he didn't. She looked into his eyes – damn, he had beautiful eyes…

"Dinner smells delicious." Richard's casual comment punctured the silence and for a moment Veronica didn't know how to respond.

Eventually she answered. "I hope you like South American cuisine?"

"Love it," he replied. "I take it you've spent some time down there?"

"Ecuador, mostly," she replied. "And a little while in Argentina – boy, Argentinian aristocrats know a thing or two about throwing a party. Lucky for me they don't seem to know much about investments. Oh and Venezuela, but that's a story for another day. Shall we eat? I thought we'd go up to the roof."

Richard nodded. "It's a beautiful evening," he acknowledged. "Sounds perfect."

xXxXxXxXxXx

"He's taking you to _where_ next week?"

Veronica blushed and a broad grin spread across her face as she Katherine's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Avec Nous," replied Veronica, spreading butter on her breakfast bagel as she spoke. "It's in Beverley Hills."

"I know where it is!" responded Katherine. She stirred some honey into her oatmeal and nodded approvingly. "I take it last night went well."

"To be honest, there were times when I thought it was a disaster," Veronica admitted. "I just couldn't stop talking about myself. About my life… my old life, I mean. Abandoning my family, going to prison, all that stuff I used to do before. It felt more like therapy than a date."

"It didn't put him off asking you on a second date, though," noted Katherine.

"He said that I was one of the most interesting people he'd ever met and he wanted to get to know me better," she said, trying to make it sound casual, even though her heart was fluttering with excitement. "He said I should be proud of the way I've turned my life around."

"He's right, you should be," agreed Katherine.

Veronica shrugged. "He said he wished he could be as strong as me," she explained. "Apparently he's had some difficult times himself with his own daughter – did you know she was kidnapped a few years ago?"

"I heard about that," nodded Katherine. "Scorpion rescued her."

"Yes," Veronica confirmed. "He blames himself. He thinks he was too focused on his business to pay her enough attention. He also told me about the time he almost got my daughter killed – and Walter and Cabe – because he tried to launch a banking tech product before it was ready!"

"Oh yeah, that was a close call," replied Katherine as she remembered reading the details of that particular day. "I guess you both have a lot of regrets."

"I don't regret anything," replied Veronica, much to Katherine's surprise. "You may think that sounds odd but… I can't afford to have regrets. I've had a good life… mostly… and I was successful at what I did. Like Richard, I guess. There are things I could have done differently, perhaps, but I don't regret anything. Except, maybe…" she trailed off and took a bite out of her bagel.

"Paige?" offered Katherine, sympathetically.

Veronica nodded slowly.

"Hey," said Katherine, placing a supportive hand on her arm. "If Richard can see past your… well, your past, then Paige will too. It'll just take her a little more time, that's all."

Veronica cleared her throat. She was determined not to allow her thoughts to become dark this morning, not after the buzz of her date last night. "I just wish I'd brought more clothes with me," she said, forcing a smile onto her lips.

"Clothes?"

"I only packed a few things," explained Veronica. "I certainly don't have anything to wear to a fancy restaurant in Beverley Hills."

"Then I guess we're going on a girly shopping trip," replied Katherine, with a smile. "Can't have you looking anything less than your best for Richard!"

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Hell, yeah!" replied Katherine. "The pain meds are doing their thing and I really need a change of scenery. There doesn't seem to be any news on what's happening with this stupid spying nonsense, so I figure my dear colleagues at Homeland have already figured out I was framed and they're just holding off telling me because they know the first thing I'll do when I get back to work is fire their asses!"

"OK," chuckled Veronica. Katherine was clearly a formidable boss.

And she was swiftly becoming a good friend.

For a moment Veronica forgot the real reason she'd come back to LA this time… then it came flooding back to her and she realised she needed to tell someone everything and soon. These last few days she'd been so wrapped up in making friends and going on dates – things that couldn't have been further from her mind a few days ago - that the trouble she was in had momentarily slipped her mind.

She _had _tried to talk to Walter about it – and Cabe - but failed.

_Of course_ she couldn't go to the mall with Katherine. What was she thinking? It wasn't safe.

"Actually, Katherine, there's something I need to tell you," she began.

"OK," replied the other woman, but before Veronica could say another word, the door flew open and Sylvester and Ralph rushed into the garage.

Veronica leapt to her feet. "What on earth…?"

"Sorry… sorry," panted Sylvester. "But this is important. Is Cabe here yet?"

"No, he and Allie have taken Rosa to see her mother," replied Katherine. "But…"

"We found something last night," Ralph began, moving the remains of his grandmother's breakfast from the table and placing his tablet down in the space he'd cleared. "Financial transactions... a series of offshore accounts… monies going from Homeland to the government of the South Central Republic of the African Coast. It's all heavily encrypted, but we managed to get through it. Took almost all night to beat the last few levels."

"Just how much sleep did you get last night?" asked Veronica. Then she shot a frown in Sylvester's direction. "You were supposed to be taking care of him, Sly!"

"Grandma!" exclaimed Ralph. "You sound like Mom! I can nap later. This is way more important than sleep. Sly says what we uncovered is enough for them to make an arrest."

"Great!" beamed Katherine. "Then whoever really did this can start rotting in jail and I can get back to doing my job."

Sly and Ralph exchanged a serious glance and suddenly Katherine's face fell.

"What?" she prompted as she felt a lump forming in her throat. "What is it? Sylvester...?"

"All of the transactions… they… they… I…I…I…" stammered Sylvester.

"Spit it out!" urged Veronica.

Sylvester took a deep breath. "There is certainly enough evidence here for Homeland to arrest someone and charge them with international espionage," he confirmed. Then he looked Katherine squarely in the eye. "You."

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8 - Tension and Secrets

**-With Walter and Paige away the team begin to make progress, but not without a few arguments and Veronica's behaviour gives Toby cause for concern.-**

**_Apologies for keeping you all waiting for another month. Thank you for sticking with this story. I still feel as passionate about keeping Scorpion alive through fan fiction as I did when I started writing - I just wish I had more free time! I hope you enjoy this chapter, all reviews are very welcome. Thank you kindly._**

**CHAPTER 8.**

"No, we're not calling Walter."

Cabe's firm words were barely heard over the noise of the rest of the team arguing. They'd been at it ever since Cabe, Toby and Happy had arrived at the garage. Sylvester was desperate to get Walter home as soon as possible, terrified that Cooper would be arrested before they could find the evidence they needed to prove she was being framed, but not everyone shared his opinion.

"I agree with Cabe," said Veronica. "I don't think my daughter would be too happy if we interrupt their mini vacation."

"Walt and Paige are due back tomorrow," Toby pointed out. "Let the lovebirds finish their dirty weekend."

Cabe clapped his hands over Ralph's ears and frowned at Toby.

"What?" shrugged Toby, innocently. "Y'think the genius teen doesn't know his folks planned a whole weekend of rumbusticating?"

"Rum… what?" asked Cabe, screwing up his face.

Ralph shrugged off Cabe's hands and spun round to face him with a frown aimed squarely at the older man. "It means having sex," he explained in a matter of fact way. "It's OK," he added, when Cabe actually blushed a little. "They're trying to have a baby. That's how you get one, you don't need to be a genius to know the basics of human reproduction, Cabe. They teach it at elementary school."

Sylvester threw his hands in the air. "Can we get back to the emergency, please?" he begged. "Walter and Paige can… can… they can spend time alone together another day."

"I'm with Sly," said Happy, earning a disappointed look from her husband. "Right now we need them back here."

"Thank you, Happy," replied Sylvester, with a slightly smug look on his face. "Ralph and I kept hitting brick wall after brick wall last night."

Cabe scratched his head. "I thought they were called firewalls?" he asked, with a puzzled expression on his face.

Ralph rolled his eyes. He loved Cabe dearly, but sometimes he found conversations with non-geniuses way more frustrating than they should be.

"We got through all the encryption on the transactions," continued Sylvester, tapping his fingers on the desk anxiously. "But we couldn't trace the source. If there were three of us working on it..."

"Sly, relax," urged Toby, interrupting him before his blood pressure rose any higher. "If anyone can do this it's Ralphy-Boy and the Sly-Dog!"

"Toby's right," agreed Ralph.

"Of course I am," said Toby, with a wink.

"My grandson, the genius," smiled Veronica, proudly.

"We can do this, Sylvester!" Ralph raised his hand in Sylvester's direction for a high five, but Sylvester just folded his arms across his chest and shook his head defiantly.

Instead, Toby reached across and slapped Ralph's palm. "Don't leave the kid hanging, Sly!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Toby," said Ralph with a grin.

Ralph knew that his mum and Walter really needed some time away. He had learnt to recognise when Paige's old insecurities were starting to get the better of her and he'd seen it getting worse over the last couple of weeks. His grandmother showing up hadn't helped matters, but he knew there was more to it than that. The last thing he wanted was to interrupt her much needed break and drag her and Walter back to reality unless it was a real emergency.

"Listen," said Toby, his face becoming more serious. "Whoever is doing all of this has been sitting on this financial stuff for days. They've had plenty of opportunity to use it already, but they haven't. That means they're planning something big, much bigger than having Director Cooper thrown in jail. They need all the pieces of their plan to fall into place at the right time then they'll drop their bomb. Um… figuratively speaking. I mean, there's no evidence that the plan involves explosives of any kind. What I'm trying to say is, we have a little breathing space."

"Here's my plan," said Cabe. "Sly, Ralph, you get back onto hacking those financial records. Toby, you and me are gonna go pick up Gannon. Give him a little shake, see what falls out."

"Gannon's just a Homeland tech nerd," said Sylvester. "He's not corrupt, he can't be."

"That's the thing about corruption, pal," said Toby. "Good people can get corrupted."

Sylvester looked despondent. He knew he could be paranoid sometimes, but even he didn't believe the whole of Homeland Security was somehow implicit in whatever was going on. He wished Kimberley was here so he could talk to her about… well, about anything that wasn't this. He missed her so much. They'd only been together a few weeks and she wasn't a million miles away, but she was far enough away for him to feel very alone. Their nightly video chats weren't enough.

"Give her a call." Toby's words broke into his thoughts.

"Huh?" Sylvester reacted with a startled look. It still freaked him out slightly whenever Toby told him what he was thinking about before he'd even realised himself.

"Kimberley," Toby clarified. "Give her a call. Maybe you could fly up there for a couple days? She's not having an easy time of it with her Mom right now, she'd probably love to have you there for support."

"Oh… um…" Sylvester stumbled over his words. He'd been so wrapped up in his own feelings of loneliness he'd momentarily forgotten what his girlfriend must be going through trying to take care of her sick mother. His face flushed as the guilt washed over him. "Sure… I mean, I might," he finally responded.

Toby slapped a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"So we're agreed about Gannon?" said Cabe, eager to get the conversation back on track and Toby nodded. "Great," continued Cabe. "Let me make a couple calls and then we'll go, I have an idea."

"_Good Doc, Bad Cop_?" suggested Toby with a grin. "It's my favourite game. You're so damn hot when you're playing angry," he added with a wink.

Cabe scowled at him. "I was thinking more like _Stupid and Irritating Doc, Good Cop_, or _Moron Doc, Good Cop_, or…"

"OK, OK, I get it," Toby interrupted him. He clutched at his chest with both hands. "Your words hurt me right here, Cabe," he added, stifling another grin.

Cabe rolled his eyes. "Just grab whatever you need and be ready in ten. Happy, we all agree the tracking device is the key to this whole thing, so maybe there's something in those blueprints that can give us a clue."

"I've been all over those specs already, Cabe," replied Happy.

"I know," agreed Cabe. "But we don't have much else to go on, kid, so do it again. Think outside the box… or whatever that goddam expression is."

Toby sniggered. "The Eighties called, Cabe," he began. "They want their innovative metaphors back."

"Shut it," snapped Cabe. "Or my boot and your ass…"

"Stop!"

It was Cooper. Her sudden exclamation stunned everyone into silence.

"Please, I can't take any more," she added. Her voice was a little quieter this time, but the determination was still evident. "Look, I appreciate everything you've done for me, but I think I need to deal with this on my own now. I can't risk pulling you guys into this."

"I think we're already in," noted Cabe.

Cooper sighed. "There are plenty of people I trust," she said. "I'll go to them for help. We can't allow a few lowlifes to bring down Homeland. I'll pack my things and get out of your way."

"Oh no you don't," said Toby, firmly. "You're still recovering from that time someone tried to kill you, or did you forget about that already?"

Cooper glared at him. "Of course I didn't," she retorted. "But I don't need twenty four hour care anymore. I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine now."

"Sure, fit as a fiddle," replied Toby sarcastically. "Never better. In fact, if I were you, I'd be cartwheeling all the way back to your apartment. The apartment with the really basic security system that's bound to stop whoever mowed you down the other day from trying their luck again."

Cooper opened her mouth to snap back a retort, but she couldn't find the words. Instead she just closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Except she'd forgotten that taking a deep breath _really_ hurt her fractured ribs. "Ow! Jesus!"

Toby looked at her. "Still going with 'perfectly fine'?"

Cooper shuddered with the pain and Veronica reached over to squeeze her forearm supportively. "I'm… I'm…" she stammered, trying to get her breathing under control.

"Hey," said Toby, squatting down beside the chair she was sitting on. "Slowly," he urged, all hint of sarcasm gone from his voice. "Take it easy."

Cooper nodded and managed to regain her composure. "Maybe I'll, er… maybe I'll just stay here for another day or so."

Toby nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said.

"But I meant what I said before," she continued. "I don't want you guys getting yourself in over your heads for me. I'll take what you've already discovered back to Homeland and let my people figure it out. This conspiracy can't be as big as all that. We're a government agency, for god's sake!"

"And government agencies are always one hundred per cent trustworthy," noted Happy, dryly, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "Besides, you've been suspended."

"I _have_ to do something," replied Cooper. "I'm starting to lose my mind! This morning Veronica and I were talking about heading out to the mall. It seemed like such a great idea, just doing something normal again. I guess I hadn't considered the danger. Someone out there wants me dead…" she trailed off and sighed again.

"We can go another time," said Veronica with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I don't need a new dress. I'll call Richard and tell him our date's off."

"Why don't you go the mall next week with Paige instead?" suggested Cooper. "You were really looking forward to going to Avec Nous."

"Wait," said Toby, spreading his hands out in front of him in surprise. "Our friendly neighbourhood multi-millionaire is taking you to Avec Nous?"

Veronica shook her head. "No… well, he was, but I'm cancelling it," she replied. Her fingers twitched as she spoke. "It was a crazy idea. If Richard still wants a second date we'll order in and eat right here in the garage, where it's safe."

"Safe?" repeated Toby, narrowing his eyes. It was an odd choice of words for Veronica. He watched her as she blinked rapidly for a second.

"For Katherine, safe for Katherine," Veronica clarified. "Just in case anything happens."

"One of us could stay here with her instead," noted Toby. He was really fascinated by Veronica's behaviour now.

Paige's mother wasn't usually this easy to read, but right now something was off and she was an open book to him. Then suddenly it was as if she'd flicked a switch and she wasn't giving him any markers at all. Toby began to wonder if he'd imagined what he'd just seen.

"I don't need a babysitter!" exclaimed Cooper. "I'm sure I'll be OK for one evening."

"Right, enough of this," snapped Veronica. "I think you need to rest, wouldn't you agree, Doctor Curtis?" She looked Toby straight in the eye.

Toby couldn't help but be impressed by her ability to completely block his abilities. "Um, absolutely," he replied. "Rest."

Veronica helped Katherine up the ramp to the loft while Cabe explained to Toby the details of his plan for getting Steve Gannon to talk. Sylvester and Ralph buried their heads back into the financial records they'd uncovered the previous night.

"What's with you, Doc?" asked Happy after a while. She had begun to look at the specs for the tracking device again, but wasn't sure what Cabe expected her to find. "I thought you and Cabe were gonna go put the thumb screws on that Homeland Teach Team guy?"

"We're just going to talk to him," Toby corrected her. "He's not a suspect, but One Ninety Seven thinks he knows something so we're gonna ask him nicely if he wouldn't mind sharing because sharing is caring."

"Hmmm," responded Happy. "Well I hope Cabe's taking his thumb screws."

"Ye of little faith," huffed Toby.

"I still think we should get O'Brien back here ASAP," said Happy.

"I respectfully disagree, Honeybunch. Sly and Ralph are on it, they'll have this mysterious account information hacked before the end of the day, I'm sure of it."

"Is he gonna ask Paige to marry him?"

"Huh?" Happy's question took Toby unexpectedly by surprise. "Sly, or Ralph?" he asked, risking a rebuke from his wife.

"Jerk," responded Happy. "I mean is O'Brien gonna propose? Is that what this weekend is for, or are they just spending the whole time in the sack? Because if they are they can put it on hold until we're not working a really important case and get their asses back here."

"Woah!" exclaimed Toby. "Where did all this come from?"

"I just don't get it," Happy tried to explain. "They got through all that crap before, they fixed all their issues - well, at least they're communicating right these days - and now they're talking about babies, so what's he waiting for? They need to get married like we did, or is he one of those commitment phobic morons?"

"Um, OK..." began Toby, perching on the corner of Happy's desk. "You think because we went the traditional marriage-then-kids route, Walt and Paige should follow our lead and get hitched?"

"Something like that," admitted Happy.

"But they're not us, Sunflower," replied Toby. "One Ninety Seven has a very different idea of how to do relationships. You wanted to get married because you've longed to be part of a family your whole life."

"I guess."

"And because I'm perfect husband material, of course."

"Hmmm."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't some kinda moral, or religious thing with you so… oh, I see what you're doing here," continued Toby. "OK, just think about it for a second. Walt grew up in the perfect nuclear family. The kind of family you craved as a kid. Except his wasn't the dream childhood it should've been, not for him anyway. He looks back at his folks and he sees a happily married couple, with two kids, living in the countryside – what more could a kid want? But his childhood sucked. So where's the incentive for him to get married? The last thing Walt wants to do is replicate all his parents' mistakes and recreate what he had back then with his own family. He needs to do it differently. And Paige, well her parents were married too and look how that turned out. I don't think either of them are in any hurry."

Happy's brow furrowed as she thought about her husband's words. Maybe he had a point? Her childhood in foster care had been hell on earth. She'd watched other kids get adopted by loving parents and her heart had ached each time she'd been rejected. Toby was right. All she'd ever wanted was a family and now she had her own with the man she loved and two – soon to be three - children. It was perfect for her. It was her dream come true. But it wasn't Walter's.

"I just want him to be happy," she said quietly.

"I know," replied Toby. "And he is. He's the happiest I've ever seen him. He's with the woman he loves and they've already proved how strong their love is, so he doesn't need a piece of paper to demonstrate it to anyone and neither does Paige. Having said that, I figure one day the timing will be right for them and he'll get down on one knee. In fact if I was a betting man… which I'm not, you know that… I'd lay money on it."

Happy nodded. "I guess families are all different. There's no right or wrong way to do it is there."

Toby smiled and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "Nope, there isn't," he agreed. Then he leaned over and kissed her baby bump. "But this way seems to working out pretty well for us."

Happy smiled back at him.

"Doc!" yelled Cabe from the other side of the garage. "Shake a tail feather!"

"On my way," replied Toby. Then he kissed Happy again. "Do me a favour, will you? Go check on Katherine for me."

"Me?" queried Happy. "I'm not the Doc around here."

"Just go up to the loft and see she's OK," urged Toby. "Please? She and Veronica were talking up there for a while, but Veronica didn't say much when she came down. After what she said before, I just need to know Cooper's not a flight risk."

Happy nodded. "OK," she reluctantly agreed. "I'll go talk to her. Just briefly."

She watched as Toby ran over and jumped into Cabe's truck where the older man had been impatiently waiting with the engine running. She deactivated the alarm and waited until the garage door had safely shut again before reactivating the security system.

Happy would be glad when they could deactivate the stupid alarm permanently. She knew it was for Cooper's safety, but she also knew any one of them could be in danger if someone did try to come after her again, including her children. She hadn't felt this on edge since Mark Collins had been on the loose, determined to get his revenge on Walter and the team. At least with Collins they'd known who they were dealing with. It was the unknown in this situation that scared her. It could be anyone and they didn't even really understand what their motive was.

"You OK?" Sylvester called out to her.

She spun round towards his desk. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm good, thanks, Sly," she replied.

She'd almost forgotten how good the young genius was at sensing when his friends were jittery. He was almost as good as Toby sometimes.

"Just coping with a few somersaults," she added, running her hand over her bump and hoping it would be enough to stop Sylvester worrying about her.

The baby had been kicking all morning and as much as she loved the feeling inside her, she was hoping Baby Quintis would quit his high intensity workout, for a while at least.

"How you guys doing?" she asked.

"We've made some progress," replied Sylvester. "Well, Ralph has."

"We both have," Ralph added.

"Great, good, great," replied Happy. "I, er, I'm just gonna go check on Cooper."

She took a deep breath and walked over to the ramp, half hoping Katherine was already asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to her after all, but she wasn't.

"Hey, Happy," smiled Katherine as the younger woman appeared. "Look, I'm sorry about before," she added before Happy had chance to say anything. "I'm just…" she trailed off and sighed. "I guess I'm not used to being stuck indoors feeling so helpless."

"Kinda like being eight months pregnant," noted Happy with a wry smile.

Katherine chuckled. "I guess so," she said. "It's been a long time since I was pregnant. My son's twenty three now. He's been living in Italy for the past year."

"Italy's nice," replied Happy, trying to make small talk. She was going to kill Toby for making her do this. "So, um, can I get you anything?" she added, wondering if it would be easier if she just asked Cooper directly if she was OK to get it over and done with.

"Actually, would you mind passing me my phone?" asked Katherine. "It's in my purse." She pointed to the chair where she'd left it. "I'm going to call my son. Veronica persuaded me I should. I wasn't going to bother him with all this, but she said I should let him know something's going on even if I don't give him all the gory details."

"She's probably right," agreed Happy, passing her the phone.

"She was really insistent," added Katherine, with a slight frown. "I've not seen Veronica be so serious before. I know she and Paige were estranged for some time, I guess she doesn't want history to repeat itself. It's different for me and Eddie, though. He's just working over in Europe for a couple years, we keep in touch and we still get on just fine."

"Glad to hear it," replied Happy. She momentarily considered talking about her relationship with her father, but then thought better of it. Normal people might find it easy to share personal experiences with other people in order to help them deal with their own issues, but geniuses with low EQs definitely did not.

"I think Veronica has a lot of regrets," continued Katherine. "She didn't say as much, but she's not going to let me get away with not calling my son. I guess when you get sick it puts a lot of things in perspective. Being told you have cancer must be awful. I still think she should sue for what they put her through."

"Veronica has cancer?" exclaimed Happy. "But I thought…"

"Oh, god, no!" replied Katherine, quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't explain that very well. I thought you knew? Oh dear, I think I may have just put my foot in it. She doesn't have cancer, but she was misdiagnosed to start with. They told her she only had a fifty per cent chance of surviving the rest of the year. Then they realised they'd got it all wrong. Now she's on those new meds for her condition and she's going to be fine, as long as she remembers to take them, of course. I think the whole thing hit her pretty hard, though."

"Wow," Happy took a moment to digest this new information. "No, I didn't know about that. I guess she may have told Toby, or Paige, but…"

"She's going to kill me," said Katherine. "I didn't realise she'd told me in confidence, I just assumed… anyway, please don't say anything to anyone else."

"Scout's honour," replied Happy, although she was definitely going to talk to Toby about it. Scout's honour didn't apply between spouses, right?

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9 - Family Matters

****\- Paige and Walter are enjoying their weekend away, while the rest of the team are dealing with family issues. -****

_**It's taken me a while to adjust to being stuck at home and, disappointingly, it turns out I have even less time for writing than normal. I'm sorry I've kept you all waiting for this chapter. I will try as hard as I can to produce the next one soon. I hope everyone is staying safe and well and I hope you enjoy this update. All reviews are very welcome, thank you kindly.**_

**CHAPTER 9**

"Cabe... Cabe, that's enough!"

Toby grabbed the older man by the shoulder and dragged him away. They'd been interviewing Steve Gannon for about half an hour now, but Toby had started to have some serious worries about Cabe. They'd agreed to play out a toned down version of their tried and trusted _Good Cop, Bad Cop_ routine – or as Toby liked to call it, _Good Doc, Bad Cop_ – to persuade Gannon to talk, but Cabe was taking things too far.

Gannon wasn't a necessarily a suspect, they had no reason to believe he was directly involved in the conspiracy, but he was hiding something, even Walter had sensed that the other day.

He was hiding something because he was scared, Toby had deduced as much the moment they'd picked him up.

Toby had urged Cabe to go easy a couple of times, playing along with his _Good Doc_ role, but Cabe clearly had his own idea of how to proceed.

Toby glanced over his shoulder at Gannon. Definitely scared he noted, terrified even, given his body language.

"We'll be right back, pal," Toby called out to him. "Have another doughnut."

The doughnuts had been Toby's suggestion to try to help Gannon relax and understand this wasn't meant to be an interrogation. He began to wonder if he should have bought extra doughnuts for Cabe.

They'd taken him to an old cabin - Cabe's idea that Toby had gone along with so they wouldn't be interrupted – but the dated surroundings had only served to create a rather unnerving atmosphere, reminiscent, Toby began to realise, of an old horror movie.

"Get off me, Doc," hissed Cabe. "I was getting somewhere. He definitely knows what's going on."

"OK, two things," replied Toby. "One, if by 'getting somewhere' you mean getting close to making him cry then yes you were and two, sure he knows _something_, but he's not the mastermind behind the whole thing! He's dyed in the wool Homeland, straight as they come."

"If he's so goddam innocent in all this then we're on the same side," Cabe pointed out.

"I know that," agreed Toby. "But he doesn't. He's realised that some people he's known for a long time – people he trusts – are involved in some kind of huge corruption and he hasn't got a clue how to handle it."

"He can handle it by telling us what the hell's going on!" snapped Cabe.

Toby threw his hands in the air. "Fine!" he said. "Go yell at him some more, that's a sure fire way of making a guy feel safe."

Cabe sighed. "I was just playing the game," he insisted. "The _Bad Cop_'s not supposed to play nice."

"Hey, just listen to me for a second," said Toby, calming the tone of his voice. "I get it, I do. Homeland is who _you_ are too and knowing that a piece of it is dirty gets to you. Hits you right here." Toby slapped the back of his hand gently against the centre of Cabe's chest.

"Dunno what you're talking about," dismissed Cabe.

Toby sighed and nodded. Of course Cabe was going to try to keep up his tough guy image, but Toby could see right through it.

"Sure you don't," he replied sarcastically, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Homeland could be slipperier than an eel on an ice rink, right down to the very core and you wouldn't care less, right? It wouldn't eat you away inside, knowing that the very institution that's been your life since you left the Marines was corrupt."

Cabe scowled at him, his nostrils flaring as he desperately tried to control his breathing. "I just wanna get to the truth. I'll go easy on Gannon, if it shuts you up."

Toby grinned. "Great!" he exclaimed. "And we'll talk more about this later."

Cabe stepped closer to him, until their faces were inches apart. Toby let out an almost silent whimper and Cabe couldn't help the tiny grin of satisfaction that danced at the corners of his lips. "I don't think there's any more to talk about, Doc," he began. "Do you?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So they threatened his family?" Allie put down her book and sat up a little straighter as she took in the information Cabe had just relayed to her about Steve Gannon.

The TV was on in the background, but neither of them were paying any attention to the wildlife documentary on the screen. Rosa had already gone to bed. She'd been quiet all evening, but had insisted she was fine, just tired. Neither Cabe, nor Allie really believed her, but they hadn't wanted to upset her so they hadn't pushed the issue.

"Indirectly," Cabe replied to Allie's question. "The guy really doesn't know what's going on, but he thinks _they _think he does. He's had a couple strange emails and some weird things happen."

"No wonder he's been acting so oddly," noted Allie. She'd met Steve once at a Homeland Christmas party and he'd seemed like a decent guy. It saddened her to think he'd somehow become mixed up in all of this.

"Yeah," agreed Cabe. "I, er…" he trailed off for a moment to gather his thoughts. "I came down kinda hard on him this morning," he finally admitted. "I just wanted to know what was going on, that's all."

Allie raised her eyebrows questioningly. "How hard?"

Cabe shrugged. "Not as hard as I would've done if Toby hadn't have been there," he replied, looking away for a moment. "The Doc thinks this is all getting to me. He figures I hate the idea that there's any kinda corruption at Homeland and… well, I guess I may have taken out my anger on Gannon."

Allie pressed her lips together. "I think Toby's right."

Cabe had been tense ever since the trouble had started, she acknowledged to herself. She knew how much Homeland and its core values meant to him and she realised how difficult it must be for him to know there were people who didn't feel the same way.

Cabe shrugged again. "Maybe."

Before Allie could offer any words of comfort, Rosa appeared in the doorway. She was clutching her teddy bear in one hand and an empty glass in the other.

"Hey," said Allie, getting to her feet. "What're you doing out of bed?"

"I… I came to get water," replied the little girl in a quiet voice. "I don't feel too good."

"Oh no," said Allie and she slowly led Rosa towards the sofa as Cabe took the empty glass from her. "What is it?" she asked, pressing the back of her hand against Rosa's forehead. She gasped a little when she felt the heat. "I think you have a fever. Cabe, she has a fever." Allie raised her voice slightly so Cabe could hear her in the kitchen.

"It's my throat," replied Rosa. "It hurts. And my ear too." She covered her right ear with her hand as she spoke.

"Here," said Cabe, returning with her glass now filled with water. "Sip this," he continued, sitting himself down next to her. He glanced at Allie, but her face was etched with worry.

"We have Tylenol, the kids' one," she said. "My sister left it here. I'll get you some." She leapt up and ran to the kitchen, quickly returning with the medicine and a spoon and before Rosa had time to object she'd swallowed two spoonfuls of the sticky liquid.

Cabe flashed her a supportive smile as she gulped down more of her water to take away the taste. "Head back to bed, sweetheart," he said. "And I'll come read you a story."

"I should call the doctor," said Allie after Rosa had left the room, but instead of passing her phone as she had hoped, Cabe just laughed. "What?" asked Allie, indignantly.

"Relax," urged Cabe, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Kids get sick all the time, it's nothing to worry about."

"At least let me call Toby for advice," begged Allie.

"She'll be fine by the morning," replied Cabe. "Trust me."

Allie let out a slow sigh. She suddenly felt completely out of her depth. Aside from babysitting her sister's children on a handful of occasions, she had zero experience of parenting. Rosa had been no trouble at all since her arrival, but now Allie was overcome with worry and all because she had a slight fever. She looked up at Cabe and realised she had to do exactly what he'd asked her to do.

She had to trust him.

Cabe was an expert parent. It may have been almost three decades since he'd had a ten year old of his own to take care of, but he knew exactly what he was doing and suddenly she realised she loved him even more because of it.

"OK," she said, eventually. "I'm sorry, this is all new to me."

Cabe chuckled and kissed her forehead. "I know," he replied. "Now, I promised the kid a story. I won't be long, I'll see you in bed."

Allie matched his kiss with one of equal tenderness on his cheek. "Thank you," she replied. "I couldn't do this without you."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I can't believe it's our last night at this wonderful hotel." Paige brushed her hair, staring at her reflection in the antique mirror and wishing they could stay another night… or perhaps a week. "Thank you so much for this weekend, Walter."

Walter walked up behind her and took the brush from her hand, placing it down on the dressing table. "Your hair is more susceptible to breakage when it's wet," he said. "Proteins form weaker bonds in wet hair than they do when it's dry. You should use a wide tooth comb instead."

"I think I read that somewhere once," replied Paige. Walter's ability to turn everyday things into a science lesson used to drive her crazy, until she realised she loved everything about him, even the irritating things.

Walter's face fell into a puzzled frown. "Then why are you using a brush?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't know, I just prefer it. I won't do it again, OK?"

Walter slumped down onto the bed. "I… I wasn't scolding you," he said.

Paige laughed and went to join him on the bed. "I know, silly," she said. She ran her hand over the expensive bedding, making a mental note to treat herself to a similar set of linens when they got home. "I meant what I said," she continued. "Thank you for this weekend. It was just what I needed and I don't just mean… y'know…" she paused and winked.

Walter smiled at her. "You mean the intimacy?"

Paige nodded. "Yes, the intimacy," she confirmed. "Don't get me wrong, I've loved every minute of _everything_ about this weekend, but I can't tell you how much I needed to get away from, well, I guess from everything else in my life right now. Everything that isn't you and me. Take that waterfall we went to this afternoon, it was beautiful. Just sitting there with you, watching the water tumble over the rocks and even knowing you were probably calculating the speed of the water…"

"I was."

Paige giggled. "What I mean is, I loved how I was able to switch off and focus completely on the water. I wasn't thinking about anything else. I wasn't worrying about money, about Ralph's future, or a case, or… or about why my Mom's been acting so weird…"

"You worry about Ralph's future?"

"Sometimes," admitted Paige. "Less now than I used to, I guess, but the point is today I didn't even think about any of those things. All I thought about was being there with you."

"I'm glad I could help you relax," said Walter. He ran his hand between her shoulder blades and Paige shuddered. "Oh, sorry," he said, withdrawing his hand quickly.

"It's OK," Paige reassured him. "Please… do that again. I think I'm just feeling extra… um… sensual right now. Being alone with you this weekend has been… it's been wonderful, Walter and now I guess my body doesn't want it to end any more than my heart does, or my head, so everything… I mean every time you touch me, or kiss me, it just feels like it's magnified a hundred times. Does that make any sense?"

"I'm not sure that it does," Walter answered honestly and he leaned in and captured her lips in a tender kiss. "I assume it means you want me to do more of this?" he added and his fingers danced delicately down her spine.

Paige shuddered again and drew her lower lip in between her teeth. "I guess I'm done relaxing and I'm ready for something a little more energetic," she explained. "We have one more night alone, let's make the most of it."

Walter's hand quickly wandered from her back down to her hip and he kissed her again, more passionately this time. "I intend to," he whispered and they fell backwards onto the pillows in a tangle of arms and legs.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"That's right! It's a cat!" Toby picked up another giant flashcard and handed it to Caitlin. "Good girl. What about this one?"

Happy smiled as she watched Toby and Caitlin together. Their daughter had woken up just as they were ready to get into bed themselves – a pattern that was starting to become far too regular for Happy's liking.

Caitlin's nightmare fuelled cries broke Happy's heart every time – and it was a wonder that Stella was able to sleep through it - so for the last few nights Toby had been developing a strategy using flashcards he hoped would help the little girl. Happy was pinning her hopes on her genius husband solving the problem soon because she was exhausted and the baby wasn't even born yet. The prospect of coping with a newborn and Caitlin's messed up routine was too much to contemplate right now.

"Yes, it's a tree! Well done."

Caitlin gently picked up another flashcards and smiled at Toby as he praised her. It looked giant in her little hand, but she clutched it tightly and stared at the picture. Toby had decided to use the flashcards not only to help the girls learn simple words, but also to help them express their emotions.

Stella wore her heart on her sleeve most of the time and it was usually obvious how she was feeling, even to Happy. You certainly didn't need to be a behaviourist to understand what was going on inside her head - she laughed boisterously, she cried agonisingly, she threw her toys in frustration and she clung tightly to Happy or Toby if she was scared - but Caitlin was different and this was where Toby's plan came into play.

Amongst the simple pictures of cats and trees were children's faces and each one had a different expression. To start with Toby had introduced 'sad' and 'happy' and Caitlin had picked up these concepts quickly enough, using the words to explain how she was feeling, so now they'd moved onto more complex emotions and Toby hoped using this method he would be able to unravel whatever it was that was causing Caitlin's recurring nightmares and allow him to counsel her through the ordeal.

"Good girl," smiled Toby as Caitlin correctly identified three more flashcards.

The twins' development was slightly delayed – Caitlin's seemingly more than Stella's at this stage – but both girls were chatty in their own ways and their vocabularies were improving daily. Toby assured Happy that they would quickly catch up with other children their age and it was just the trauma of losing their biological parents and their subsequent time in foster care that had caused their temporary issues. Caitlin seemed to be responding well to Toby's therapy so Happy wasn't worried at all.

She was, however, completely exhausted.

"She looks real tired now," Happy pointed out. "Do you wanna go back to bed, Caitlin?" she asked her daughter, somewhat optimistically.

Caitlin shook her head and Happy sighed.

"Just give me another few minutes," Toby said. "She's doing great tonight. She's really finding her voice, it's amazing. She's so smart, they both are."

Happy nodded. She was delighted, of course, that Toby felt he was making progress with Caitlin, but she was heavily pregnant and really needed to sleep and before that happened she really needed to talk to Toby about Veronica. It had been such a crazy afternoon at the garage she hadn't had time to mention what Cooper had told her that morning about Veronica's misdiagnosis.

"If I talk to you will it be too distracting for Caitlin?" asked Happy. "It's kinda important and I don't know how much longer I can keep my eyes open."

"Keep your voice low," replied Toby. "The sound should help to soothe her." Then he turned back to Caitlin. "Hey, that's right! It's a dog."

Caitlin continued to identify the flashcards as Happy told him everything she'd found out from Cooper.

"So, are you gonna tell Paige?" she asked when she'd finished.

"I don't know?" replied Toby, letting out a slow breath. "It would be better coming from Veronica, but that'll be easier said than done. If I tell Paige her mom's keeping secrets from her she'll go… well, we both know how much Paige hates secrets and I just don't know if she's in the right frame of mind to deal with something like this right now, especially not if O'Brien managed to put a bun in her oven this weekend."

"Hell, no. We sure don't want a hormonal Paige doing something really dumb," noted Happy, shaking her head. "But won't she be happier if she knows why Veronica's been acting so weird?"

Toby shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

"You're supposed to be the expert on what goes on in her head, Doc!" exclaimed Happy, but she immediately clasped her hand over her mouth when Caitlin spun round and stared at her.

"Hey, it's OK," said Toby in a gentle voice, stroking Caitlin's hair. "Mommy was just trying to belittle Daddy to make herself feel superior."

"Ignore Daddy," retorted Happy, supressing a grin. "He's just embarrassed 'coz he doesn't know what to do about Auntie Paige. Maybe he should try making a decision chart?"

This time Toby looked directly at his wife. "Not funny," he replied. "You're not talking to One Ninety Seven here. I just don't want to risk Paige going off the rails over this. I used to think Walt's brain was the only one I couldn't understand, but then I realised Paige's brain is far more complex. I'm gonna write a paper about the pair of them one day."

"Quit thinking about your academic career for a second, Doc," urged Happy. "We need to figure this out before the waitress and O'Brien get back tomorrow."

"I know," nodded Toby. "Hey, what's this one?" he added, handing another flashcard to Caitlin.

"If we tell Paige about it she'll go postal at Veronica," noted Happy. "But if we wait for Veronica to tell her – which she might never do - and Paige finds out we already know then she'll go postal at us."

"You make a good point, Lovebug," replied Toby. "Which is why I'm going to sleep on it and decide in the morning."

"Sleep sounds like a great idea," said Happy, she gently lifted Caitlin into her arms. "What d'ya think? Ready for some sleep? Y'know, if Stella wakes up and you're not in your bed she might be sad." Happy paused and reached across to pick up the 'sad face' flashcard. "Sad," she repeated, showing it to Caitlin. "We don't want to make your sister sad, right?"

"Sad," repeated Caitlin, pensively.

"Come on, little one," said Toby. "Let's go find Stella. Nothing bad will happen, I promise, but if you get scared again you just call out and Daddy'll be right there."

Nightmares were normal for children, Happy knew that. She could vividly remember many times waking up alone, her hair plastered to her face with sweat, trembling with fear and she hated to think her little girl was going through the same thing almost every night. The only difference was Happy had never had anyone to comfort her through those terrifying moments. Suddenly she felt bad for wanting to sleep. If Caitlin – or Stella, or the new baby – ever needed her in the night to make them feel safe then she would happily forgo sleep forever, she promised silently.

"Now say nighty-night to Mommy," urged Toby.

"Nighty… Mommy… nighty… baby," replied Caitlin and she blew kisses in the cute, cumbersome way that only a toddler can.

Happy's heart nearly melted with the rush of emotion she felt at hearing those words. "Night night, kiddo," she replied, glancing at Toby who appeared to be as overwhelmed as she was. "We have the best family," she said.

Toby nodded. "Sure do," he said beaming with joy. He kissed Caitlin tenderly on the top of her head, all his worries about Paige momentarily forgotten about. "Sure do."

_To be continued..._


	10. Chapter 10 - Truths and Clarity

**-Just before Paige and Walter return from their trip, Toby has a talk with Veronica and even he's surprised at her behaviour. Then there's a huge development in the case, but it leads to an unexpected crisis.-**

_**I can't apologise enough for the delay in getting this chapter finished. I hope there are a few people out there still following this story! I'll try to get the next chapter posted soon. In the meantime, please leave a review if you can. Thank you kindly.**_

**CHAPTER 10.**

"Toby! What are you doing here?"

Veronica nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him sitting at his desk. She had not been expecting anyone to have started work this early on a Sunday morning. She stopped dead in her tracks and scrambled to pull her silk robe around her to cover her modesty.

Toby grinned at her. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, without any real hint of apology in his voice. "I didn't know you had Richard in there." He nodded towards the Airstream she had just emerged from and waggled his eyebrows.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous," she responded. "We've had one date, remember. One."

"That's all it takes for some people," noted Toby with a smirk. "Anyway, I didn't come here at stupid o'clock to talk about your love life."

"We're not talking about my love life," retorted Veronica. "I was going to make some breakfast. Can I get you something?"

Toby couldn't help but admire her attempt at a diversion. She had obviously figured out he was here for a reason, even if she didn't know what that reason was yet. And she had assumed – correctly – that he was here to see her, seeing as the only other person in the garage was Katherine and she was up in the loft. He noted her breathing start to quicken slightly as she made a show of finding plates and searching through the fridge for something to eat.

"Are there any bagels left?" he asked.

"I think so," replied Veronica. "Do you know what time we're expecting Paige and Walter home today?"

Toby had realised he couldn't risk the situation between Paige and Veronica getting any worse, so he'd decided to confront Veronica about. He was sure he could persuade her to explain everything to her daughter and he knew Paige would understand… at least he hoped she would.

"Not sure," he replied. "They're stopping in here to collect Ralph so I guess if there's anything you want to tell Paige you could talk to her then."

Veronica hesitated and Toby smugly acknowledged to himself that his comment had at least prompted some thought.

Veronica hid it well though. "I'm sure Walter will want an update on the case," she said, as casually as she could. "Pity there's not so much to tell."

"Oh, so we're talking about the case now, are we?" offered Toby, raising his eyebrows.

He paused, giving Veronica a moment to think of a counter remark. She didn't need long.

"Shouldn't you be at home with your heavily pregnant wife?" she snapped. "Something might happen while you're here, irritating me."

"Oooh," replied Toby, screwing up his face. "Hit me with a guilt trip. Nice."

Veronica sighed and stopped slicing bagels. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"I've been thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself."

"Hilarious." He deliberately stood between her and the toaster. "Did you remember to take your meds today?"

"Yes," she replied with a frustrated expression on her face. She dodged round him and dropped the bagels into the toaster, then spun back round, heading for the fridge.

"It's just that I was thinking about the other day," continued Toby, this time placing himself right in front of the fridge door. "When you messed up your meds. Not like you to screw up with something so important."

Veronica stood with her hands on her hips. "It's been a busy few days, in case you hadn't noticed," she replied. "You're in my way, Toby," she added with a frown.

"Oh, sorry," he replied, innocently and stepped out of her way, allowing her to open the fridge door. "I guess at first I put it down to your age."

"Hey!"

"But then I thought, no, Veronica Dineen is still as sharp as a button," he continued. "She doesn't screw up. She can't afford to, not in her line of work."

"I retired, remember?"

"One screw and up one of her more dubious business associates would be paying her a visit and they're not just stopping by for a coffee," Toby carried on without missing a beat. "Or the cops catch up with her and she's looking at five to ten, no parole."

"I never screwed up, not unless it was part of the plan," retorted Veronica, defensively.

"That's my point," replied Toby. "Which means this time there must be something playing on your mind. Something all consuming, something that's throwing off your usually razor sharp senses. Something, maybe, you should talk to someone about. Maybe, say, to a shrink?"

Veronica slammed the two plates she'd been carrying down onto the table. "Are you saying I'm crazy?" she snapped.

"Nope," replied Toby. He grabbed half a bagel and took a bite. "Not yet, anyway," he added with his mouth full. "But bottling things up can make a person crazy. Trying to deal with something on your own can make you act crazy and then it makes the people around you crazy because they don't understand why you're acting so crazy. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," retorted Veronica. "But I assume from all this that Katherine has been discussing my personal matters with you. Dammit, if you can't trust the Director of Homeland Security with a secret, who can you trust?"

"Actually Cooper told Happy," Toby began to explain. "She assumed we already knew. Then Happy told me,"

Veronica nodded slowly. Maybe she hadn't made it clear when she was talking to Katherine about her misdiagnosis the other evening that she hadn't told anyone else yet? Now Toby knew about it he wasn't going to drop the subject in a hurry, she realised.

"OK, OK," she said eventually. "But I don't know what you want me to say?"

"Why didn't you call Paige straight away?" he asked.

"I was freaking out!" exclaimed Veronica. "If your doctor tells you you're dying, you're gonna freak out. I would say that's fairly normal behaviour and I'm no behaviourist. Then when they tell you they're very sorry, they made a huge mistake and you're going to be fine after all, you stop freaking out. End of story."

"Just like that?" offered Toby. "Everything back to normal?"

"Aside from getting used to taking my pills every day, yes."

"Facing up to your own mortality isn't easy," said Toby in his best professional voice. "Most people start to reflect on their lives…"

"Well, I didn't," Veronica interrupted him.

"So you didn't spend hours lying awake at night wishing you could have done things differently?" prompted Toby. "Wishing you could have had a real relationship with your daughter?"

"No," retorted Veronica, shaking her head.

Of course it wasn't true. In the mistaken belief she only had months to live, Veronica had become suddenly overwhelmed by guilt for the way her life had played out. It had been all-consuming and even now she knew she wasn't dying after all, her head was still spinning. It was as though everything she believed in had changed overnight and she didn't even know who she was anymore. She couldn't even begin to explain that to Toby, though.

"You're telling me none of this has anything to do with why you suddenly turned up here?" Toby continued. "Why you risked breaking your cover, just so you could see Paige and Ralph again?"

"I'm not saying it was the best two weeks of my life, thinking I was going to die," she replied, trying to sound as dismissive as she could. "But it's over now so I've moved on."

Toby reached out and gently touched her shoulder. "No you haven't," he said, softly.

He hadn't expected things to be this bad, but all the markers he was reading from her right now showed just how deeply she had been affected by her ordeal.

Veronica shrugged him away, determined not to crack in front of him. She'd managed to hold herself together when she'd been talking about this to Katherine. She'd felt so much better after sharing her story with someone that she'd assumed talking about it once would be enough. She thought she'd be OK now. It was suddenly painfully obvious, however, that she wasn't OK.

And Toby knew it.

Damn him, he knew.

Her façade fell apart so quickly even Toby was taken by surprise. "Oh god, who am I trying to kid?" She buried her face in her hands as the tears came.

"Hey, it's OK," said Toby, gently.

"I abandoned my daughter," began Veronica. "I abandoned my husband… I loved him so much… and for what? Greed? I don't even care about the money that much."

Toby considered his next words carefully. He hasn't expected her to break down like this. Spending a couple of weeks staring death in the face had affected her more deeply than he could possibly have imagined.

"You weren't driven by greed," he said, eventually. "It was the buzz. The rush. Believe me, I know how that feels. It's classic addictive behaviour. Nothing else matters in those moments, not even the people you love."

Veronica looked at him with sad eyes. "I enjoyed every minute of it," she said. "Every scam, every con, every time I dodged a bullet – figurative or literal – every time I got away from the cops. I thought about my family all the time, but I just couldn't be a wife and mom."

"It just wasn't who you were back then," said Toby. "It's OK to admit that," he added. "It's the first step to learning how to come to terms with it."

Veronica let out a slow breath. "And I suppose the second step is therapy with this genius shrink I happen to know?"

Toby shrugged. "How about I just give you one piece of advice for free. Talk to Paige."

"Don't you think I've tried?" replied Veronica. "But every time I think about what I'm going to say to her it comes out all… wrong."

"That's because your psyche's trying to protect you by sugar coating your memories," Toby explained. "It's not uncommon after an emotional trauma."

Veronica was silent. Had she really suffered a trauma? It sounded so… serious. It had only been just over two weeks… just two weeks of thinking her time was up. Two weeks, that's all. When she'd got the call from her doctor to say there'd been a mistake she'd been stunned, but elated and she really did think everything would go back to the way it was before. Instead she'd had the overwhelming urge to see Paige and without thinking it through she'd jumped on the next flight back to LA.

"Talk to her," Toby pushed. "She knows something's wrong. You owe her the truth."

"I do… and I will," promised Veronica. "And Toby, thank you."

xXxXxXxXxXx

It wasn't long before the garage was buzzing with activity again. Veronica had spent the rest of the morning in the Airstream, lost in her own thoughts, but when she'd eventually emerged she felt a whole lot better and was ready to talk to Paige. While she waited for her and Walter to return from their trip she called Richard and confirmed their next date. As soon as she put the phone down she couldn't help the little tingle of excitement that coursed through her. She hadn't felt like this since she'd first met Paige's father. She made a promise to herself at that moment that whatever happened with Richard, she wouldn't hurt him the way she'd hurt her late husband.

Cabe and Allie had arrived with Rosa a little earlier. Rosa had insisted she felt well enough to come to the garage – she'd wanted to play Proton Arnold – and Cabe had persuaded Allie that it would do the little girl good to get out. Allie had still insisted that Toby take a look at her as soon as they'd arrived, though. Toby was happy to oblige and gave her a thorough check up.

"Looks like the start of something," he said, packing away his medical equipment. "But it's nothing to worry about," he added reassuringly. "I'll write you up a script for antibiotics and that should knock any infection on the head before it gets a hold."

"Thank you, Toby," said Allie, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"You need to rest, drink plenty of fluids and you'll be feeling better in no time," said Toby and Rosa smiled at him.

"Can I play?" she asked, nodding towards the old video game machine.

"Sure," agreed Toby. "But we'll get you a chair so you can sit."

"On it," said Cabe and he got to his feet. "Come on, kid," he said, holding out his hand so Rosa could take it and the two of them went to set her up for a gaming session.

"Parenting is so stressful!" exclaimed Allie, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Tell me about it," replied Toby. "At least Rosa can tell you where it hurts."

"I guess," she answered. "I love having her around and I love seeing how good Cabe is with her, but if this has taught me anything it's that I'm really not cut out to be a mother."

"Glad you could figure that out after just two whole weeks," responded Toby, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

Allie frowned. "You know what I meant," she said. "I look at you and Happy, you're both natural parents and it makes me realise that I'm not. Auntie, big sister, babysitter, yes. But I'm no Mom. You're so good with Caitlin and Stella. Those girls are so lucky to have you. You must be so excited for the new baby."

"Can't wait," agreed Toby, grinning broadly.

After a hurried lunch – take-out from Kovelsky's – Cabe was dozing in the chair when the perimeter alarm went off.

Loudly.

"What the…!" he exclaimed, almost falling to the floor as he was wrenched from his slumber. Rosa and Allie giggled uncontrollably. Allie was pleased to see Rosa laughing.

"Must be Mom and Walter!" yelled Ralph as he raced to turn off the blaring sirens.

Walter and Paige barely had a minute to breathe before they were bombarded by the others. Toby was particularly irritating, desperate for details of their baby-making activities, but they weren't about to tell him – at least they didn't intend to, but of course Toby was able to glean as much information as he needed without either of them saying a word.

Paige was more interested in asking Veronica about her date with Richard and although her mother was forthcoming with details, she seemed unusually reserved which worried Paige a little.

While this was going on Sylvester and Ralph talked over each other at top speed to fill Walter in on all the developments in the case and the possibility that Cooper could be arrested at any moment, with Cabe adding the information he'd obtained from Steve Gannon and Cooper adding her own thoughts on who at Homeland might be involved. Allie tried to pull Paige aside for some advice about parenting, but she soon realised Paige was too tired to talk, so she let it go for now.

"Walter," hissed Paige, when a welcome lull in activity presented itself. "I want to go home now. I can't take much more of this noise. I wish we were back at the hotel."

"Of course," Walter answered and Paige breathed a sigh of relief. Her joy was short lived though as he quickly added, "I just need to run a few numbers with Sly. I'll be fifteen minutes. No longer, I promise."

Paige nodded reluctantly and he went over to Sylvester's desk. As she watched him go she noticed her mother out of the corner of her eye. Veronica had gone to the kitchen to make snacks – Ralph was always hungry these days – but Paige couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be avoiding her.

Suddenly Paige became aware that Toby was standing next to her. "Don't start on me again, Toby," she said. "Walter and I had a lovely weekend. That's all I'm going to tell you."

"I know," replied Toby. "But I wasn't going to talk about that. I was going to talk about Veronica."

Paige's head snapped round. "Is something wrong? Do you know why she's being so weird?" she asked. "While I was away I was trying to figure out what her game is, why she's turned up here so suddenly and why I can't seem to stop her upsetting me, but now… now she's changed again. Now it's like she's avoiding me. Why is she avoiding me?"

"Why don't you ask her?" Toby suggested, nodding towards the kitchen.

Paige frowned. "OK, so you know something, but you can't say. Is that it?"

Toby shrugged, casually and Paige let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine," she said. "I'll ask her, but if this ends in a huge fight I'm blaming you."

"Harsh," noted Toby, but Paige just scowled at him and marched off towards Veronica.

Toby pretended he wasn't watching them from a distance, but of course he was, even when he walked over to play Proton Arnold with Rosa. She was a natural at the vintage game and she had fun beating Toby's high scores. Toby didn't mind… that much.

Cabe, meanwhile, was beginning to lose his cool with Walter.

"How can you be so calm about all this, son?" he snapped at the genius. "We've been working at this for days now and still no breakthrough. I thought you were a genius?"

"I am," replied Walter, with a puzzled frown. "Would you prefer I make assumptions? I could take an educated guess to reach a conclusion about who may be behind all this and the reasons for their actions if you prefer, but without any cold, hard facts that would be inefficient."

"And dangerous," added Sylvester, waving his finger in the air.

Cabe rolled his eyes. "I say we go back to Homeland and rattle some cages. Harder, this time. Someone's bound to squeal eventually."

"What?" queried Cooper. "You think one of our highly trained agents will just spontaneously admit what's going on because you go in and throw your weight around? You're all trained to resist admitting anything under torture, or did you forget that?"

Cabe sighed. "OK, maybe you have a point," he admitted. "But I think we…" but he didn't get to finish his sentence.

"There's a flaw!" Ralph's voice cracked with the intensity of his sudden exclamation.

"A… a… a flaw?" stammered Sylvester with a puzzled look on his face.

Everyone else in the garage came running over to see what had happened.

"In the code!" continued Ralph as the team gathered around. "We didn't see it, Sly. It's right there and we didn't see it."

Sylvester peered over the young genius' shoulder and shook his head slowly as he read over the lines of code Ralph was pointing to. "Juggling jesters!" he exclaimed. "How could we have both missed it?"

"Exhaustion," said Toby. "Or stress, or both. There's been a lot going on around here lately, makes it kinda difficult to concentrate, even for geniuses."

Veronica turned to Toby. "I guess me being here is the other stuff?" she offered in a low voice.

"Partly," nodded Toby. "By the way," he added, glancing up to make sure Paige was distracted enough with Ralph not to hear what he was about to say. "I take it things are OK between you and Paige now?"

"She was surprisingly restrained," replied Veronica. "But I think there's more to come. I probably deserve it."

"Kinda surprised she didn't yell at you," Toby noted.

As much as he wanted Paige to learn how to control her outbursts, it seemed odd that she hadn't torn into her mother for keeping secrets from her. Perhaps her weekend away with Walter had gone even better than he thought? Interesting, he thought to himself, but his attention soon turned back to Ralph who had gone very quiet.

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Ralphy-Boy," he said, encouragingly.

Walter scanned down the code on the computer screen, placing a supportive hand on the boy's shoulder as he did so. "This is just lazy coding," he said. "We could never have anticipated them making such a basic error. No wonder you missed it, Ralph."

Cabe raised his hand. "Excuse me," he said. "But would one of you mind explaining what you're talking about to us non-geniuses?"

"The tracking devices," began Sylvester. "The signal is scrambled – randomly - as you'd expect, to prevent them being traced."

"Oh sure," said Paige, glancing at Cabe. "We totally expected that."

Sylvester either didn't pick up on her sarcasm, or chose to ignore it. "But instead of using a true infinity randomiser," he continued. "They used a basic algorithm."

"Translation?" demanded Katherine, authoritatively.

Ralph let out a small sigh of frustration. "It resets periodically," he explained. "And when it does that, it's vulnerable."

Toby stepped forward. "They might as well have fitted it with a giant neon sign that says 'Spy here, please kill me'."

"Homeland idiots," muttered Walter.

"Normally I'd agree with you," noted Sylvester. "But remember this tech was still in development. It's likely they were aware and planned to go back and fix it."

"But it was stolen before they had chance," Toby added. "And sold to our friendly neighbourhood dictator."

"So, what does all this mean?" asked Cabe.

"It means," replied Toby. "That crooked Homeland agents have sold the crooked leader of a breakaway African dictatorship faulty goods."

Walter nodded. "As he'll soon discover once his own spies start getting captured, or killed," he added. "Assuming his plan is to send spies into neighbouring countries for nefarious reasons."

"Highly likely," noted Katherine.

"Nice guy," said Toby, sarcastically. "And he's not going to be happy with his buddies at Homeland."

Cabe sat down on a chair as the reality started to sink in. "So they framed Katherine," he said. "Ready for when it all blows up - she gets the blame."

Katherine shook her head sadly. "That's why they planted all this evidence against me," she said. "The financial transactions, the emails, all of it. When this guy demands answers they're going to point the finger straight at me."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"You need to get some sleep, Cabe." Allie pulled the covers back and plumped the pillows on Cabe's side of the bed as she spoke.

Cabe sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I know," he replied. "I just hate that we still don't know who to trust at Homeland."

"You'll know soon," replied Allie, encouragingly. "Walter said he was working on a plan."

"He did," agreed Cabe. "Can't say I understand it, but he sounded quite confident that he can expose them."

"Good," said Allie. "Now come to bed."

Cabe climbed in beside Allie and rested his head on the pillow. "How was Ralph?" he asked. "I saw you and Paige talking to him."

"He'll be fine," Allie answered, snuggling into him. "He doesn't understand how he could've missed that error in the code, but Sylvester missed it too so he just has to understand that even geniuses can't be perfect all the time. Even geniuses make mistakes."

"Ain't that the truth," acknowledged Cabe. "Some geniuses have been known to make _big_ mistakes," he added, knowingly.

"Hmmm," agreed Allie. "Well this was more of an oversight and he found it in the end so it's all good now. Walter will no doubt be up all night working on his plan and this whole thing will be over soon. We all need to get back to normal and I for one can't wait. I think Paige is struggling too. We were talking this afternoon and one moment she was telling me all about how excited she and Walter are about trying for a baby, but then she started talking about how lonely her own childhood was and she became quite upset."

"Veronica has a lot to answer for," noted Cabe.

"Yes," agreed Allie. "But Paige seemed strangely reflective about it all today. Usually she gets herself all worked up, but today she was calm. Still terribly sad, but calm. It was unusual behaviour for her. I hope nothing happened with Walter while they were away that we should be worried about."

Cabe sighed. "I'll never stop worrying about those kids," he pointed out. "But if it means anything, I would say Walt was in a great mood today, so it's probably just Paige. You know what she can be like."

Allie reached over and switched off the light. "I'm sure you're right," she said and she kissed him. "Goodnight, Cabe."

"Goodnight A…" but Cabe's response was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

"Ignore it," urged Allie.

"You know I can't do that," replied Cabe, pushing himself up onto his elbows and reaching for his phone. He peered at the screen. "It's Happy," he noted and he answered the call. "Hey," was all he was able to say before Happy started talking.

Cabe's stony silence immediately worried Allie and she switched the light back on.

"OK, I'll meet you at the garage," said Cabe, eventually, before ending the call.

"What?" prompted Allie, her heart suddenly racing. "What's wrong, Cabe? Is it the baby?"

"No, no," Cabe replied, quickly. "The baby's fine, Happy's fine, it's… it's Walter. He's been arrested!"

_To be continued…_


	11. Chapter 11 - Phoenix Echo

**~After Walter's arrest the team quickly realise how much danger he could be in, but struggle to find a way to help him. In the end, his best hope comes from an unlikely source.~**

**_Well, here's another chapter! Welcome to all the new readers who have discovered this story in recent weeks, and a huge thank you to those of you who've been with me from the start. There's plenty more to come before this one reaches its conclusion. I hope you enjoy this chapter and you'll find time to leave a review. Thank you kindly!_**

**CHAPTER 11.  
**

"Are you sure they were Homeland?"

Cabe had raced to the garage, arriving only a few minutes before Toby who had taken a detour to pick up Sylvester. Paige and Ralph were already there, with Veronica and Katherine. Happy was going to wake the twins, take them to her dad's and then join them as soon as she could.

"They had badges, Cabe," replied Paige, impatiently. "I didn't get chance to study their authenticity before they slapped handcuffs on Walter and dragged him away!"

Cabe pressed his lips together and glanced at Katherine. He could see she was as anxious as he was, but they were in a delicate situation. If Homeland genuinely believed they had evidence to arrest Walter then she could be next. On the other hand, if the arrest had been carried out by whoever at Homeland was involved with the selling of dodgy spy equipment to a desperate dictator then Walter's life could be in serious danger.

"I'll make some calls," Cabe announced.

"Is that it?" exclaimed Paige. "We need to do something now, not chat on the phone!"

Cabe frowned at her. "We can't do anything until we find out where he is," he replied, calmly. Inside he was as worried about Walter as Paige was, but he knew he had to do this properly. "There's protocol, Paige."

Paige flung her arms in the air. "You can stick your protocol," she snapped.

Sylvester took three steps backward, physically distancing himself from the brewing confrontation.

Toby made a T with his hands. "Timeout!" he yelled. "Paige, try to calm down," he added, gently grasping her forearm. "The old man's right."

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Toby!" hissed Paige, as Cabe went over to his desk to use the phone. "Don't tell me to take a breath, or relax, or focus, or any of that shrink crap, got it? Walter is in real trouble and we need to help him. Since when did you ever follow protocol anyway?"

Toby shrugged. "Maybe fatherhood has mellowed me?" he offered.

Paige folded her arms tightly across her chest, but couldn't think of anything else to say. She wanted to cry, she wanted to hit someone, she wanted to yell at Katherine - not that it was really Katherine's fault, but she wasn't exactly thinking straight.

Veronica put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Toby's right," she said.

"You _would_ say that," Paige retorted, glaring at Toby.

Toby physically recoiled. So it looked like they would have to have a conversation about Veronica soon, but not right now. Right now they had to find Walter and figure out how to get him out of this mess.

Veronica moved away from Paige and her arm went around Ralph instead. "It'll be OK," she said reassuringly to her grandson.

Ralph just nodded. Veronica couldn't tell if he was in shock, or if his genius mind was working overtime.

It wasn't long before Happy arrived and Toby explained the situation to her.

"How long has Cabe been on that call?" Paige asked, impatiently.

"Seventeen minutes, twenty six seconds," replied Sylvester. "Oh," he added when Paige glared at him. "That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it."

Paige let out a sigh of frustration, but before she could draw another breath, Cabe slammed down the phone.

"Good news?" offered Toby, sarcastically.

Cabe clenched his teeth as he walked back over to the group. "I hate not knowing what's going on," he said. "But I do know where Walter is. Headquarters."

"Homeland headquarters?" asked Sylvester.

"No," replied Happy, rolling her eyes. "Boy Scout headquarters."

Sylvester folded his arms across his chest in a defensive gesture.

"OK, everyone relax," said Toby. "Any details about the charges?" he asked Cabe.

Katherine stood up and gingerly stretched her aching back. "One guess," she said. "International espionage."

"Got it in one," Cabe confirmed.

Paige's head was spinning. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," she said. "What evidence do they have?"

Happy lowered herself into a chair and looked around the group. "Probably the same fake evidence they used against Cooper," she said. "Plus all the banking transactions Sly and Ralph found and anything else those scumbags have been able to pull together."

Toby nodded. "My guess is our rogue agents have conveniently dropped all that stuff into the hands of the good guys at Homeland to take the heat off themselves."

Paige shook her head in despair. "Then we need to show them they've got it all wrong."

"Not going to be that easy," noted Toby. "Our word against theirs. No real proof. Our first priority is getting Walter out of jail."

"Let's go," said Cabe, authoritatively. "Toby, Sly, you're with me."

"What?" exclaimed Paige. "I'm coming too. You can't make me stay here."

Cabe hesitated for a moment, realising that she was right – he couldn't make her stay behind. She'd probably kill him if he tried. "Fine, you can come," he said. "But don't do anything… y'know."

Paige frowned. "No, Cabe, I don't know," she answered.

"He means keep your mouth shut, waitress," explained Happy, bluntly. "O'Brien's in enough trouble already."

Paige opened her mouth to defend herself, but Sylvester's voice stopped her.

"Why do I have to go?" he asked, with panic in his voice. "I don't want to go!"

"Oh, I don't know?" began Toby, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe because you're a lawyer?"

Sylvester's face fell. "Oh yes, that," he said with a sigh. Sometimes he wished he'd shut down his legal career right after Cabe's trial.

"Right," said Cabe, with determination. "Sly, Doc, Paige, with me. Everyone else stay here and keep that damn alarm on. We don't want anyone else being carted off to the slammer."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"They can't just keep him here!" Paige paced around, earning glares from the various Homeland agents who were trying to go about their business. "Why won't they let me see him?"

Toby didn't attempt to get her to sit down, if he'd tried he'd just end up on the receiving end of one of her outbursts and he was, quite frankly, too much of a chicken for that. "Give the Cabester and the Sly Dog time," he urged, keeping his voice even.

Paige stopped pacing and stared at him. "The Cabester?" she repeated, incredulously. "I don't think you've ever called him that before?"

Toby shrugged. "I'm nervous," he replied, as if this was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

Paige shook her head. "This is some kind of dream," she said. "It has to be. A really bad dream, where Walter gets locked up for no reason and you're acting even weirder than usual."

Before Toby could object to her comment, Cabe and Sylvester walked through the double doors. Cabe was in front and marched through the door with such force that it almost hit Sylvester in the face as it swung back into place. Cabe's face was red with fury.

"I take it that went really well?" offered Toby, sarcastically.

Cabe growled under his breath, unable to form a cohesive sentence.

Instead Sylvester spoke. "They're detaining him as a spy and potential terrorist," he explained. "Which means they can pretty much hold him for as long as they want."

"A terrorist!" exclaimed Paige. "On what evidence?"

"Basically nothing," replied Sylvester. "But they don't need it. The law's on their side, for now."

"Well, you're a genius so get back in there and change the law!" Paige almost yelled at him.

"Um… um…" stammered Sylvester, glancing at Toby for some back-up. "I can't change the law just like that," he said.

Paige threw her hands in the air in despair. "Then leave," she snarled at him. "Go back to the garage and play with your dumb toys."

Toby had heard enough. "OK, Paige," he began. "I know you're probably gonna hit me, or something when I say this, but you need to calm down."

Paige glared at him, her nostrils flaring with rage, but she knew he was right. Tears sprang to her eyes and she looked back at Sylvester. She'd done it again, hadn't she… she'd said nasty, hurtful things to someone she cared about. She'd really thought she had moved past doing this kind of thing…

"Oh, god, Sly," she began in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean…"

"I know," replied Sylvester. "It's OK. We're all a little… on edge right now." And he spontaneously flung his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Miss Dineen?"

The loud, booming voice of the tall Homeland agent they'd spoken to when they arrived made them all jump and Sylvester released Paige from his arms.

"Yes!" said Paige, waving her arm in the air to attract his attention.

The man walked over to them. "You can see O'Brien now," he said.

Paige almost hugged him too, but she managed to restrain herself. She followed him towards the door to the holding cells, with Cabe, Toby and Sylvester close behind.

The agent stopped in his tracks and glared at the group. "Just Miss Dineen," he snapped at them. "It's not a party."

Toby opened his mouth to reply with a smart-alec response, but he was stopped by Sylvester clamping his hand over his mouth.

"Mmmpphh!" protested Toby, but Sylvester didn't budge.

Paige didn't care about anyone else in that moment. She needed to see Walter, she needed him to know she was there. She briefly glanced over her shoulder before walking off.

Cabe gave her a smile he hope looked encouraging before joining Toby and Sylvester back on the hard, plastic seats in the waiting area.

"This could be worse," noted Toby, dryly, after Sylvester finally allowed him to speak.

Cabe just looked at him and rolled his eyes, then he sat back in his seat and looked around at the regular comings and goings that he was so used to seeing at Homeland HQ, even in the middle of the night. Some people he recognised, some he didn't, but right now he felt like he didn't really know any of them. He didn't know who to trust and he felt like a stranger in this building that was so familiar to him.

Just as Cabe was becoming lost in his thoughts, the doors flew open and Paige appeared.

"That was quick!" exclaimed Sylvester, but it was obvious something was wrong.

"He's gone," said Paige urgently, glancing over at the agent who was standing just behind her with a bemused look on his face.

"Gone where?" asked Cabe, stepping forward.

The agent looked a little sheepishly at the group. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "He was there just now. Leave this with me, I'll see what I can find out." And he hurried off.

Paige was close to tears again and it felt like only Cabe's firm arm grasping around her shoulders was holding her together.

Sylvester shuffled closer to them and glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot before speaking. "Do think he's escaped?" he asked.

Toby shrugged. "I guess it's possible," he noted. "I say we head back to the garage and see if he makes contact."

Paige couldn't believe how much had changed. Yesterday, she and Walter had spent the most wonderful day together at the end of an idyllic weekend. There had been no stress, no worry, nothing apart from the two of them spending time together. Now, not only was he under arrest on ridiculous charges, he'd disappeared.

She looked at Cabe, her eyes pleading for some kind of answer. "What the hell is going on?" she yelled.

But Cabe had nothing to offer.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"He would've made contact by now." Sylvester paced up and down the garage, trying to breathe. "Something's wrong, s…s…something's happened. I just know it."

Toby put his hand between the younger genius' shoulder blades and rubbed slow, circular motions. "C'mon, Sly," he said. "Don't do this now. You can lose your marbles when we know what's happened to Walter. Just breathe, pal. Breathe."

Sylvester did his best to follow Toby's advice, but it wasn't easy. Katherine had been staring at him the whole time, so now as well as worrying about Walter he was worrying about Katherine firing him from future Homeland cases for being unable to hold himself together in a crisis – assuming she ever got her job back, of course.

"Here, I've made snacks," said Veronica, walking from the kitchen with a tray of food.

Toby grabbed a handful of corn chips and shovelled them into his mouth.

Veronica glared at him and then turned to her grandson. "Ralph, have something to eat," she urged. "Before Toby eats the lot. You need to keep your strength up."

"I need to keep my strength up too!" exclaimed Toby and this time he took some popcorn.

Ralph took a cookie and stifled a huge yawn.

Paige shot her mother a disappointed look. "Perhaps he'd prefer something healthier?" she suggested, pointedly. "Or perhaps he should get some sleep?"

"Mom, I can't," complained Ralph.

He'd hacked into Homeland files – Katherine had chosen to turn a blind eye - and had been scanning through them for over an hour, but had found no trace of Walter. Thinking and talking helped keep him awake. There was no way he was going to sleep until they knew where Walter was, but now it was almost two in the morning and he was struggling.

"Just a short nap," suggested Paige. "A tired genius is no help to anyone."

"Walter can't have escaped," replied Ralph, but he wasn't basing his assertion on any facts, or logic. He didn't really know where it came from, just a feeling that he couldn't explain.

"How d'you figure that, Ralph?" asked Happy, stretching her arms in the air. Happy was exhausted too, but like Ralph she refused to sleep. The baby was rewarding her dedication with a good kicking, though. "Escaping makes more sense than disappearing into thin air," she continued. If anyone could escape from the tightest security at Homeland it would be a man with an IQ of 197, she thought.

"Let's just give Cabe more time," urged Paige, glancing over towards Cabe's desk where his phone had been glued to his ear since they'd got back from Homeland.

Paige had actually managed to calm down since they'd got back. Her mind was focussing on positive scenarios and not negative – one of the tricks Toby had taught her – and for now it was working.

Suddenly, Cabe threw his phone across his desk. It spun around, barely missing the coffee Veronica had made him earlier - which had now gone cold – and coming to a stop less than an inch before the edge of the desk. At that moment, Cabe wouldn't have cared if it had fallen to the floor though, he was fuming with anger. He stormed across the garage to re-join the others.

Toby slapped him on the back. "Using all of my behaviourist skills and training," he began. "I conclude that you're not a happy bunny."

Cabe glared at him. "If I wasn't so mad with Homeland right now, my left boot would be embedded in your ass."

Toby grinned. "You don't mean that," he said. Then his face became serious. "So, what did you find out?"

Cabe sighed. "That Homeland are a bunch of clowns," he said. The he glanced at Katherine. "No offence," he added.

Katherine stood up. "You're Homeland too, Cabe," she pointed out.

Paige could feel her sense of calm slipping away. "Cabe!" she exclaimed. "Did you find out what happened to Walter?"

"Yes and no," replied Cabe.

"What kind of an answer is that?" snapped Paige.

"I was passed from one department to another," Cabe explained. "Put on hold, transferred, ignored – anyone would think I was being fobbed off," he noted dryly.

Toby rolled his eyes. "Bureaucrats," he muttered.

"Eventually I got to speak to someone," Cabe continued. "He said Walter was transferred."

Happy was fast losing her patience. "Transferred where?" she snapped.

Cabe sighed and looked squarely at Katherine before answering. "The guy on the phone told me Walter's been transferred to Phoenix Echo 10."

"Great!" exclaimed Paige, leaping to her feet. "Let's go! Where is Phoenix Echo 10 anyway? Come to think of it, _what_ is Phoenix Echo 10?"

"Dumb name," noted Toby. "Sounds like something straight out of a Sixties spy movie."

"You're not far wrong, Doc," replied Cabe. "It's not a real place. The guy I spoke to obviously didn't know who I was. It's just a stupid codename we sometimes throw out there to distract certain people we don't want poking around."

"Ooh, let me guess," said Toby. "Certain people like… the CIA?"

Cabe nodded. "It's kind of a Homeland joke," he said. "Phoenix Echo 10 doesn't exist."

No one said anything for a second while they took in this information, but then Sylvester and Katherine spoke in unison. "Yes it does."

Cabe's eyes widened in surprise. "What the hell are you talking about?"

But Katherine didn't answer. Instead she glared at Sylvester. "How do you know?" she asked him. "Knowledge of Phoenix Echo 10 is classified. Maximum security clearance only."

Sylvester's face reddened. "Oh, well, um," he mumbled. "I, um, I read about it online."

Toby grinned. "Don't tell me," he said. "_'Conspiracy Theories R Us'_ dot com? Or is that '_Nerds With No Girlfriends_' dot com?"

Happy elbowed him in the ribs. Why her husband liked to go from calming Sylvester down to winding him up again in the space of a few minutes she would never understand.

"Hey, I've got a girlfriend!" Sylvester pointed out, indignantly. "But you were close with the first one," he admitted. "There's been speculation for years that Homeland have a bunker in the hills. Actually, it's more than speculation. We have maps, photos and blueprints."

Katherine shook her head in dismay, but she couldn't help but be impressed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" she muttered and she made a mental note to improve Homeland cyber security measures as soon as she was back as the Director of Homeland. In fact Scorpion would probably be the best people to hire to do the work, she realised.

Cabe stared at Katherine in disbelief. "So it was real all this time?" he asked. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"It's on a need to know basis," replied Katherine, seriously.

"I need to know!" exclaimed Cabe.

"So do I," added Toby, facetiously.

"And me," said Happy. "I hate not knowing."

"And if Walter's there then I _really_ need to know," said Paige.

"Alright!" exclaimed Katherine. "Enough! I guess you all need to know."

Cabe let out a slow breath. "Do you really think that's where Walter is?" he asked.

"I can find out," she replied, then she turned to Sylvester. "If you can get me into the Homeland systems – which I know you can - then I know how to find confirmation."

Sylvester looked nervously around at the rest of the team. "Um, sure," he replied, nervously. "But, um, are you gonna have me arrested for hacking into Homeland when this is all over?"

Katherine laughed. "If I was going to do that, I would've done it a long time ago," she pointed out with a wink.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Can someone run that by me again?" Paige wasn't sure if it was just the exhaustion finally getting to her, but nothing anyone had said in the last thirty minutes made any sense. "We know Walter's definitely at this Phantom Echo place because the records show he definitely isn't?"

"Phoenix Echo," Toby corrected her. "Maybe you should join Ralph for a couple hours?"

Paige glanced over to the sofa where Ralph had finally succumbed to sleep. "Not until someone explains what the hell's going on!"

Toby raised his hands in the air in a gesture of resignation. He wasn't going to argue with Paige, not at three a.m. Not if he valued his life.

"He's there," confirmed Katherine, seriously.

Paige nodded slowly. "And Toby, you're sure he's in the hands of the rogue Homeland agents?"

"Positive," replied Toby, his expression as serious as Katherine's. "His arrest was genuine, but this transfer smacks of desperation. Going on the evidence and what we know, the actions of whoever took him there are the actions of people who are starting to panic. They know we're onto them, maybe they think we even know who they are…"

"Which we don't," Happy pointed out.

"They don't know that, Lovebug," noted Toby. "Which means we need to get One Ninety Seven away from them before they throw him to the lions. They've already tried implicating Cooper, now they're trying it with Walter. If General Dictator Pants has already figured out he was sold crappy gear and he gets wind of any of this…" he trailed off for a moment, allowing the danger Walter was most likely in to resonate around the room. "Let's just say our as yet unidentified rogue Homeland agents are not exactly the type to fall on their swords."

"We need a plan," said Sylvester and his breathing began to quicken again.

"Y'don't say," replied Toby, dryly.

"Come on!" yelled Paige. "There's a combined IQ in this room of, what, over one thousand - admittedly two hundred of those points are currently sleeping," she looked over to make sure Ralph hadn't stirred. "But three geniuses plus the four of us should be able to think of something."

Veronica was the first to respond. "I have an idea," she said. "We walk in there and demand they hand him over."

Paige looked at her mother in disbelief. "Really?" she said, once she'd found the ability to speak. "Well, thank you for you input, Mom, but I'm hoping for something more… Scorpion."

"We wouldn't get past security," said Katherine. "You're all well-known at Homeland. They'll be expecting Scorpion to try something."

"But I'm not Scorpion," noted Veronica.

Paige glared at her. "Will you please stay out of this?" she hissed. "Your ideas on how to deal with situations are not exactly normal."

Veronica stood with her hands on her hips. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"You know what it means," snapped Paige. "You don't consider other people, you just do what you want to do."

"I don't have to run every decision I make past you," replied Veronica. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I've already said I'm sorry."

"And that makes it OK?" queried Paige as her cheeks flushed red with rage.

Toby stood up. "Ladies," he began, glaring at Paige with pleading eyes. "May I suggest we do this later?"

Sylvester raised his hand before speaking. "Um, I don't think I know what we're talking about now," he said, gingerly.

Happy leaned over and spoke quietly in his ear. "She lied to the waitress about something," she whispered. "Now Paige is pissed."

"Oh." That was all the information Sylvester needed and he sank back into his chair. Paige terrified him when she was mad and Veronica terrified him because he realised he knew so little about her.

Paige drew a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said, addressing no one in particular. "Walter is my only priority right now."

"Then let me help," begged Veronica. "I'll go in as the… oh, I don't know, call me the Director of the Homeland International Security Division – how does that sound?"

Katherine looked bemused. "That's a nonsense title," she pointed out.

"I know," agreed Veronica. "But with a fake I.D. – Happy, I know you can do that – it'll buy me enough time to convince them to transfer custody of Walter me. Toby said these guys are panicking, so we play on that. Then I'll walk out with Walter. Easy."

Cabe couldn't help but smile at her confidence and tenacity, but he had no intention of allowing her to take such a risk. "Too dangerous," he said, bluntly.

"I've been in far worse situations," she reminded him. "Those Mafia fellas aren't exactly friendly. Then there was…"

"They'll see you're a phoney," Cabe interrupted her before she could go into another tale about her sordid past that he'd rather not hear. "And then they'll kill you."

"Are you doubting my abilities as an artiste?" she asked.

"Artiste?" repeated Paige incredulously. "You're a con artist, not an opera singer!"

Veronica sighed. "_Retired _con artist," she pointed out. "Look, Paige, maybe I'm not proud of everything I've done in my life and that's why I don't do it anymore, but I'm damned good at it - give me some credit for that at least. Let me use what I know to help you, to help Walter."

Toby grinned at her. He could see how much her demeanour had changed in the last few minutes, how excited she was about her plan and he understood exactly why. "One last con," he said, knowingly and Veronica grinned back at him.

Cabe dropped his chin to his chest, realising they were out of options and it slowly dawned on him that they'd have to give Veronica's plan a try because it was the only one they had.

"Please, Cabe," Veronica begged. "I can do this."

Happy got to her feet and looked around the room at the assembled group. "Anyone got any better ideas?" she asked.

Silence. Not even Paige could think of a good reason why they shouldn't try this. Walter's life might depend on it.

Cabe looked at Veronica squarely in the eye. "Alright," he said. "The con is on."

_To be continued…_


	12. Chapter 12 - Freedom

**-Walter is very surprised to see who comes to his rescue, but his escape may not be as straightforward as the team hoped.-**

**_Thank you for all the reviews on this story so far. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. All reviews are very welcome, thank you kindly!_**

**CHAPTER 12.**

"You can't keep me here indefinitely, you know!"

Walter was fed up of yelling. He was fed up of being ignored too. He thumped his fist on the door of his cell several times and waited for a response.

"I know you can hear me!"

He didn't know anything, of course, but he was trying to sound as if he still had some confidence left. In reality he was starting to get really scared, but he didn't want those Homeland idiots to know that. He thumped on the door again.

"I demand to speak to my lawyer!"

He raised his fist, ready to attack the door again, but at that moment the door flew open. Two guards - one with a gun aimed squarely at him - stood in the doorway.

Walter stumbled backwards, unable to maintain the air of confidence any longer.

"Mr O'Brien," began the guard whose gun had - so far - remained holstered. "If you don't stop making so much noise, I'll be forced to sedate you."

"What!" exclaimed Walter. "You can't do that!"

The guard holding the gun laughed. "I think we can do what we like to you," he said.

Walter pressed his lips together, determined not to resort to any more outbursts. "I have a right to speak to my lawyer," he began as calmly as he could. "His name is Sylvester Dodd. I heard his voice before when you were holding me at Headquarters, but then you bundled me out of the cell and brought me here before I was able to see him. Where is this place, anyway?"

Walter actually had a pretty good idea of where he was - at least he thought he did, but he hoped he was wrong. Sylvester had talked before about a secret Homeland bunker and he hadn't really believed him at the time, dismissing it as another crazy conspiracy theory - but Walter had been able to mentally track his journey here and the location tied up with the location Sylvester and his online buddies had suggested the mysterious place could be found.

In which case he knew he was in serious trouble.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Let's go over it one more time." Cabe checked his gun as he spoke. "Just to be sure you don't screw it up."

The windows of his SUV had steamed up a little, but that was to be expected after he and Veronica had been waiting in this spot for over an hour now. An hour in a car with Veronica was quite enough for Cabe and he really hoped Toby would be here with the hire car any minute now.

"Let's not," replied Veronica, huffily. "This is my plan, remember? I don't need to go over my own plan again. I wish you had a little faith in me, Cabe."

Cabe sighed. "OK, fine," he said. Then a car came round the corner. "Oh thank the good lord, it's the Doc."

The plan involved a lot of car swapping which they hoped would avoid them being followed or traced.

"Thanks, Doc," said Cabe, as Toby handed the keys to Veronica. "Now get in and I'll get you back to the garage."

Toby nodded and took Veronica's place in Cabe's car, while Veronica started up the armoured Mercedes with blacked-out windows Toby had hired – using a fake ID, of course. "Remind me again why I have to go back to the garage, while my heavily pregnant wife is the getaway driver?"

"Happy is a better driver than you," Cabe pointed out. "She needs to get Walter away from here fast. You said yourself, one of those morons is going to figure this whole thing out sooner rather than later and we need to keep Walter out of their hands so we can't risk him being seen anywhere near the garage."

"And," added Veronica. "We don't want them linking me with Scorpion, or any of this, so I'll be staying with Richard for a few days."

"Wow," grinned Toby. "Talk about a whirlwind romance!"

Veronica scowled at him. "You know Richard has eight spare bedrooms, right?"

Toby shrugged. "No idea," he replied. "I've never been invited for a sleepover at Elias Towers."

"Shut up you two!" exclaimed Cabe. "Let's get a move on. Comms?"

Toby and Veronica both tapped their ears to indicate they already had their communication devices in place.

"Good luck," said Toby.

"I don't need luck," retorted Veronica. "I've done this a hundred times. It's simple - we confuse and confound them to overpower them."

"Is that the scam artist's motto?" asked Toby. "You should get it on a t-shirt."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Sly, can I talk to you for a second?" Paige slipped the comm device out of her ear and beckoned Sylvester to follow her to the kitchen.

Sylvester looked nervously at the screen in front of him where a red dot was slowly moving along a map. "She'll be inside in eight minutes," he pointed out.

"Then you've got eight minutes to talk to me," noted Paige, raising her eyebrows.

Sweat began to bead at Sylvester's brow as he reluctantly left his post. He was far too scared of Paige to stand up to her under normal circumstances, but with her mother about to put herself in danger in order to break the man Paige loved out of the clutches of a rogue branch of a government department, she was even more uptight.

"What is it?" he asked, unable to keep the trembling from his voice.

"Relax," urged Paige, in a surprisingly calm voice. "I just want you to promise me something, that's all. As soon as we know Walter and my mom are safe, I want you to call Kimberley and go be with her. Our lives are crazy and stupidly dangerous at times and… well…. you and Kimberley are so good together I don't think you should waste any more time being apart. How is her mother doing?"

"She has good days and bad days," replied Sylvester, sadly. He would love to be with his girlfriend right now, but he was torn between his love for her and his love for the team – for Walter and the others. They were his family and he wished he didn't have to choose between them. "But… but what about you guys?"

"Then she needs you more than ever on the bad days," replied Paige. "Please go, we'll be fine. You never know what might be around the corner, you never know how much time you have so make the most of every moment. Promise me?"

Sylvester was taken aback by her speech. "I… I promise," he said and he pulled Paige into a hug. "Thank you," he added. "I miss her so much and after Megan…"

"I know," whispered Paige. "I know you know more than any of us how precious time can be," she added, freeing herself from his arms. "You two shouldn't be apart any longer."

Sylvester choked up as he looked into her eyes. "You're a good friend, Paige," he said.

The moment was broken by the sound of the perimeter alarm as Cabe arrived back with Toby.

"Sizzling sunflowers!" exclaimed Sylvester, clamping his hands over his ears. "Can we please turn that thing down!"

"We can turn it off for good once those Homeland bozos are behind bars," noted Happy as everyone gathered around the monitor tree. "Right now we've got bigger things to worry about. Look," and she pointed to the middle of the screen. "She's in, she got in."

"Your ID worked!" exclaimed Katherine.

Happy sneered at her. "You didn't think it would?" she offered.

"My wife is an expert, you know," noted Toby and he kissed Happy on the cheek.

"No, I mean yes, of course I did," Katherine answered. "I'm just… I guess I'm just disappointed at how easy it was to fool the system."

"Hey," retorted Happy, standing with her hands on her hips. "It wasn't easy. Took me almost forty minutes to knock up that ID pass."

Cabe slapped Happy affectionately on her shoulder. "You're a genius," he noted. "Come on, we'd better get going. We need to be at the rendezvous point. Give me a five minute head start."

As he turned to head back towards his car Cabe took his gun from the holster around his shoulders and checked the barrel.

Paige watched him and suddenly this already dangerous situation felt very real. "Cabe, do you… do you think you'll need that?" she asked.

Cabe stopped in his tracks, unaware that anyone had seen him. He turned his head. "I hope not," he said. "I really hope not."

He thought it best not to mention that Veronica currently had his back-up weapon strapped to her side. It was mostly for effect, all part of the scam to make her look like a very senior director of Homeland, but it _was_ loaded and Cabe was beginning to regret the quick lesson he'd given her in taking off the safety.

"Guys," said Sylvester as Cabe got into his car. "Are you hearing this?"

They all stopped talking and listened to the voices coming over the comms.

Toby grinned. "Oh, she's good," he said. "She's very, _very _good. She's got them eating out of her hands."

xXxXxXxXxXx

Walter sat bolt upright in his poor excuse for a bed. He listened, resisting the urge to cup his hand to his ear to make sure he wasn't imagining the voice he was hearing from along the corridor. It was Veronica. Definitely Veronica Dineen. What on earth was she doing here?

Walter's mind starting running through scenarios. Surely Cabe and the team wouldn't have sent Veronica to get him out of here… would they?

The voices were too far away for him to be able to make out what was being said and the echoing didn't help. All he had to do, he realised, was wait patiently and hopefully he would find out what was going on soon enough.

Walter waited.

And waited.

And eventually he heard footsteps.

"O'Brien!" yelled one of the guards who had threatened him earlier. "Get up!" He began unlocking the cell door and Walter slowly got to his feet. He had no idea what was going on and he didn't want to screw anything up.

"What's going on?" he asked as casually as he could.

The guard sneered at him. "Seems you have friends in high places," he replied and he grabbed Walter roughly by the arm and dragged him out of the cell.

The sound of Veronica's voice got louder the further along the corridor they got.

"…and if I find out any of you are involved, I'll have your asses on a plate. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Walter pressed his lips together as he assessed the scene. Veronica was taking a very assertive tone with the other guard. She was dressed in a designer suit – he thought he recognised it as one of Cooper's, but he couldn't certain. Her hair was tied up in a business-like bun on the back of her head and she had a very official looking Homeland pass around her neck. She carried a file of papers under her arm and – most surprisingly – had a gun holstered at her side.

Veronica looked up as they arrived. "So, you're Walter O'Brien," she said, curling her upper lip in mock-disgust. "You don't _look _like a genius, that's for sure." She pulled a pair of Cabe's handcuffs from her pocket and tossed them to one of the guards. "Cuff him," she ordered.

The guard pulled Walter's arms behind his back more roughly than was necessary and snapped the cuffs on. Then he shoved him towards Veronica and it was all Walter could do to stop himself from tripping over his own feet.

"Do I know you?" he asked, pointedly.

Veronica laughed. "Vanessa Halliday. Homeland Director, International Security Division," she replied, confidently. "I hear you've been getting a little too friendly with some people my department would really like to speak to."

"You heard wrong," replied Walter.

"We don't like spies, Mr O'Brien," continued Veronica, lowering her voice to a very convincing level of menace.

"I'm not a spy," said Walter, forcefully. He was beginning to enjoy this little game. "I know my rights, I demand to see my lawyer."

"Save it," snapped Veronica. "You're coming with me. I have a nice little room waiting for you and some good friends who would like to talk to you. I'm sure your lawyer will be happy to visit you once you're all settled in."

Veronica grabbed Walter's shoulder and pushed him ahead. "Thank you for your co-operation, gentlemen," she said, without turning back.

The two guards looked at each other in bemusement, not entirely sure what had just happened.

Veronica frogmarched Walter towards the armoured car and opened the back door so he could get in. He was still handcuffed and he stumbled before climbing in. Veronica strode confidently to the front of the car and settled into the driving seat. Without turning round to look at him, she whispered a quick, "Sshhh," before starting the engine.

Walter was desperate to ask a million questions, but he realised he had to follow her lead and stayed silent for now. He looked out of the window as Veronica drove out of the gate of the Phoenix Echo compound. The sun was up now and he could see his surroundings, which he hadn't been able to do when he'd been driven here in the back of a van, in the dark. He was able to verify the approximate location of the compound – his educated guess had been pretty accurate – and he definitely glad to be leaving.

They drove for about ten minutes before Veronica spoke. "Well, that was fun!"

Walter frowned. "Fun?" he repeated. "I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the situation."

"You're always so grumpy," retorted Veronica.

"I'm handcuffed," Walter reminded her. "It's not very comfortable. I assume you have the key?"

"Of course," Veronica replied. "Or I did I drop it?" she added with a mischievous wink which she made sure Walter could see in the rear view mirror.

Walter rolled his eyes. "If that was an attempt at humour, I'm not in the mood."

"Relax," Veronica urged. "We'll be meeting Cabe and Happy in a minute. I'll take the cuffs off before you go with Happy."

"Where am I going with Happy?" asked Walter. "I would appreciate knowing the plan."

"OK, OK," replied Veronica. "Quick version. The scam I pulled back there isn't going to fool anyone for long, so you and Happy are going to lie low for a couple of days in a cabin in the hills Cabe knows. Belongs to an old friend of his. I'm going to stay with Richard and if anyone asks, the rest of the team have no idea where you are."

"You mean I can't see Paige?" said Walter, trying not to sound too emotional. "This is a stupid plan. I want to see Paige. I demand you take me back to the garage immediately and get me out of these handcuffs!"

"Well," replied Veronica, huffily. "Is that how you thank someone who's just broken you out of a high security Homeland facility at great risk to her own safety?"

"I need to see Paige," insisted Walter.

"You saw her, what, twelve hours ago!" exclaimed Veronica. "And we need to get away from here. Sylvester doesn't think it'll take them very long before my fake ID flags up somewhere in the system and then all hell is going to break loose. Now sit still, if you wriggle too much in handcuffs you'll hurt your wrists. Believe me, I know."

Walter's eyes widened, but he didn't want to think about how often Veronica had been arrested herself.

He let out a sigh as they raced through the country lanes at high speed. He was desperate to see Paige, to hold her, to tell her how much he loved her. He couldn't get the image from his mind of her face when he was taken away. It may have only been twelve hours ago, but it felt like forever since he'd held her in his arms.

Suddenly, Veronica screeched the car to a halt and before he could gather his thoughts, Cabe had hauled him out of the car and removed the handcuffs.

"Good to see you, son," smiled Cabe.

Walter only had one thing on his mind. "I need to talk to Paige," he said.

Happy stepped forward and grabbed his wrist. "Here," she said and placed a comm device in the palm of his hand. "Now stick that in your ear and let's get going!"

"Paige!" yelled Walter, fumbling with the earpiece. "Paige, can you hear me? Are you there?"

"_I'm here, Walter."_

Walter's knees almost buckled at the sound of her voice in his ear.

"O'Brien!" exclaimed Happy. "Let's go!"

"_Er, guys…"_ This time it was Sylvester's voice over the comms. _"I think we've been rumbled! Two cars just left the Phoenix Echo compound at high speed. I picked up an emergency communication, but it's encoded. Ralph's working on it now."_

Walter didn't have any chance to object as Happy, Veronica and Cabe swapped car keys before the happy bundled him into Cabe's SUV and three vehicles left, driving in opposite directions.

"Paige," began Walter, urgently as Happy increased their speed. "I… I'm a little confused by all of this, but you have to know that whatever I was arrested for, I didn't do it. I'm innocent."

"_I know that!" _exclaimed Paige. _"Is that what you've been worrying about? Did you honestly think I'd believe you were some kind of spy?"_

Then Toby's voice came over the comms. _"This is gonna be fun!"_

"Shut up, husband!" exclaimed Happy. "I'm driving like a maniac here, I could do with some directions!"

"_Sorry, lovebug," _replied Toby. "_But can you drive like a maniac carefully? Baby Quintis isn't quite ready for his first roller coaster ride just yet. Sly, are those Homeland goons closing in?"_

"_I'm not sure," _answered Sylvester urgently and Walter could hear the faint beeping of the GPS tracker in the background. _"One of the cars is heading in your direction, they may have picked up the trail."_

"Morons," noted Happy, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she negotiated the obstacles in the bumpy road. "OK, I'll have to take the long way round to the cabin. Cabe, you sure it'll be empty when we get there?"

"_Hundred per cent sure,"_ replied Cabe, over the comm as he drove back towards the city. _"My old pal, Mike, moved to England when he retired from the Marines. He keeps the cabin here for vacations only."_

"Great," said Happy, narrowly avoiding another rock in the road. "Cabe, this terrain is pretty rough. I hope this old thing is up to it."

"_Hey!" _exclaimed Cabe. _"That old SUV has seen me through plenty of scrapes. It'll see you right."_

The drove for a little while, with Happy taking instructions from Sylvester on how to avoid major routes and obstacles as they climbed into the hills. All the time, the team were going over the information they had, trying to piece together what they knew.

"_Walter," _said Paige over the comms. _"My mom had a camera in her jacket, we have footage of the guards. We can identify them. Do you think they were both in on the sale of that dodgy spy equipment?"_

"I didn't really have time to interrogate them," snapped Walter, although he wasn't annoyed with her, just with the whole situation. Fortunately, Paige seemed to understand.

"_It's OK, Walter," _she said. "_I'll let you know if we find out anything."_

Paige didn't really want to talk to Walter about the rogue Homeland agents anyway, but she couldn't say everything she wanted to say with everyone listening at the garage, or over the comms.

The last twelve hours had been more terrifying than any of the many other times Walter had been in danger and she couldn't quite put her finger on why that was.

Then it hit her.

She could be pregnant. She might be carrying Walter's baby in its embryonic stages and the thought that she – that _they_ – could have lost Walter was unbearable. She absent-mindedly grazed her hand over her abdomen and almost instantly Toby's hand was on her shoulder in a show of support and understanding. She glanced at her friend and smiled, knowing Toby already knew what she was thinking. There were no secrets in the garage after all.

"_I love you, Walter…"_

"I love you too, Paige," replied Walter, pressing his comm tighter into his ear as if it would somehow bring her closer to him.

"I hate to break this up, lovebirds," said Happy. "But that last bump we hit, I think it busted something."

"_Not your waters?" _exclaimed Toby with more than a hint of panic in his voice evident even over the comms.

"No, numb-nuts," replied Happy, wincing at the volume of her husband's voice in her ear. "Something in this trash heap of a car. Walt, can you hear it?"

Walter nodded. There was a definite knocking and crunching noise which was getting worse. "I think we should pull over," he said. "Sly, how far are we from the cabin?"

"_About two miles," _came Sylvester's voice. _"And I think you're safe. Both vehicles have broken off pursuit and returned to Phoenix Echo."_

"Great," said Happy, rolling her eyes as she carefully brought the car to a stop beside a tree. "I guess we're on foot then. Just what I need."

"_Hey, One Ninety Seven," _said Toby. _"My wife is very pregnant. You may have to carry her."_

Happy and Walter stared at each other in disbelief, but decided they couldn't be bothered to argue with Toby. If he wanted to believe Walter was going to carry Happy for two miles over uneven terrain to find a cabin in the middle of nowhere, so be it.

They began walking, with Toby supplying a soundtrack of irritating songs as they walked – to keep their spirits up, he said.

After about half an hour of trudging through dusty paths and scrambling over tree rootes they finally came upon the cabin.

"You can shut up now, Doc," said Happy with relief. "We're here."

Suddenly, Walter reached out and grabbed her arm. Happy spun round to look at him, wondering what he was doing. Walter had his finger to his lips, then he pointed to the cabin. Happy followed his line of sight and saw what he was pointing at. There was a light in the window.

"Guys," said Walter quietly, lightly touching the comm in his ear as he spoke. "We're definitely here, but someone else is here too."

"_Be careful," _warned Cabe.

Happy pressed her lips together. "Thanks, Cabe," she whispered. "Like we hadn't thought of that already!"

At the garage, Paige closed her eyes, hoping that this didn't mean what it sound like – that Walter was in danger again.

She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. She needed Walter by her side. She desperately wanted to tell Walter that she needed to be with him for the rest of her life. She wanted to tell him that she couldn't bear to be separated from him anymore.

She needed him to know that she wanted… him. Forever.

_To be continued..._


	13. Chapter 13 - Home Truths

**-With the rest of the team working back at the garage, Walter and Happy discover who's occupying the cabin.-  
**

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter. All reviews are very welcome!**_

**CHAPTER 13.**

"I thought you said this cabin would be empty, Cabe?" Paige stood with her hands on her hips as she spoke.

"It should be," replied Cabe. Then he touched the earpiece in his ear with his finger and spoke to Walter. "Stand by," he said.

"_Standing by,"_ replied Walter over the comm.

"Let's hope it's not Mark Collins," said Toby, facetiously.

"_Not funny, husband!" _exclaimed Happy.

"Not possible," Cabe confirmed. "Collins is safely tucked up in his high security cell. He's not in a cabin in the woods!"

Sylvester nervously raised his hand. "Um, do you think Homeland could have guessed where they were headed and gotten there first?" he asked.

Toby shook his head. "Not unless they're dumb enough to leave the lights on… although now I've said it, they can be pretty dumb."

"Hey!" exclaimed Katherine. "Those are my people you're insulting."

"Oh, sorry," replied Toby, rolling his eyes. "I didn't mean to insult your people… the ones who're trying to cover up their illegal activities by blaming it all on you and framing you as an international spy."

Katherine's face fell. "OK, you have a point," she said.

"Cabe," began Paige. "Are you sure your friend isn't back in the country and using his cabin? Does he let other people use it?"

Cabe shook his head. "He's definitely overseas," he replied. "But I guess it could be another of his old pals. A group of us used to spend a week there every year when we were in the Marines."

Paige flung her arms in the air in despair. "So it could be a highly trained ex-Marine in there!" she exclaimed. "Who's not going to be happy to find Walter and Happy creeping around outside!"

Sylvester leapt to his feet. "They might shoot first and ask questions later!" he exclaimed.

Toby raised his hands in the air. "OK, everyone, just take a deep breath," he said, calmly. "We're getting a little carried away here, aren't we? Suddenly you're convinced the cabin is occupied by a trained sniper ready to shoot trespassers on sight? This isn't a Tom Cruise movie!"

Sylvester closed his eyes and took two deep breaths and Paige looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm just kinda worried."

"Yeah," agreed Sylvester. "The probability of Homeland second guessing us and getting there any faster than Walter and Happy is actually extremely low." He glanced at his computer screen again and frowned. "Although looks like your friends from Phoenix Echo are on the move again, so you'd better decide what you're going to do fast!"

Happy's voice came over the comms. _"I don't think I'm gonna get that car on the road again in a hurry, so I say we go introduce ourselves to our new friend…or friends."_

"Good plan, lovebug," agreed Toby. "And now might be a good time to play the heavily pregnant card. With any luck they'll take pity on you."

"Agreed," nodded Cabe. "Then you can lay low for a few hours, at least until the heat is off."

"_And I really need to pee now,"_ said Happy. _"Going behind a tree ain't that easy when your centre of gravity is skewed."_

Paige let out a slow breath and tried to stay calm as they waited for an update from Walter and Happy. She reminded herself that whoever was in the cabin would have no reason to suspect Walter was technically a fugitive. As far as they would know, Walter and Happy were a couple whose car just broke down.

After a few minutes they heard voices over the comms again. First it was Walter introducing himself and Happy – using fake names, of course – then they heard an unfamiliar voice.

Paige and the others in the garage couldn't really hear what was being said by the mysterious occupier of the cottage. Toby had deduced from the sound of their voice that it was a young woman, but her words were too faint to make out clearly. Sylvester and Ralph were attempting to boost the comm signal, but for now Happy and Walter sounded calm enough so everyone had to trust they felt safe enough with whoever it was.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Doc, can you hear me?" Happy whispered as quietly as she could. "I'm in the bathroom... finally. Thought I should fill you guys in."

"_Lovebug,"_ came Toby's voice over the comm. _"Are you actually peeing while we're talking?"_

"Yes! I've been holding it in for the past hour!" exclaimed Happy.

"_Er, Lovebug,"_ said Toby, this time a little more quietly. _"Is it weird that I'm a little turned on right now?"_

"YES!" yelled everyone else in unison.

"_Happy,"_ came Sylvester's voice. _"Any chance you could hold it until we've finished talking?"_

"Not easy when there's a baby tap dancing on your bladder!" replied Happy. "Sorry, guys, you're just gonna have to put up with my husband being a perv!"

"_Everything OK there?"_ asked Cabe over the comm. _"We can only really hear your voices this end. Who's there? Sounds like a kid."_

"Walt and I are fine," Happy answered them. "Couldn't really say anything before, but we're with a girl called Carrie. She says her grandfather owns this place."

"_Little Carrie?"_ replied Cabe in disbelief. _"Last time I saw her she was five or six maybe. Jeez, she must be fifteen now."_

"Try seventeen," replied Happy. "She remembers you too, by the way. Walt showed her a photo of us all from last Thanksgiving."

"_Walter has a Thanksgiving photo of us all on his phone?"_ queried Paige.

"He does," confirmed Happy.

She'd been as surprised as Paige sounded. Toby had taken plenty of family photos and even Happy herself had taken a few – mostly of Caitlin and Stella and also some of her dad – but as far as she knew, Walter had only taken very formal pictures of the team and his family. She had never noticed him taking candid photos, but apparently he had and she assumed it had happened more than just once.

Walter really had made so much progress – even Happy could see it. When she thought back to how he was six years ago – and how she had been too - it was almost too much to believe how much Walter had changed. Then again, he hadn't really changed at all. He was still Walter O'Brien with his one ninety seven IQ and everything that came along with it, but he had learnt so much about how to be that person and also to be 'human' at the same time. He had grown and become a man with a family he loved – and an ever expanding extended family - a family Happy was proud to be a part of.

"There's something else," added Happy, remembering there was one vital piece of information she hadn't shared with the rest of the team yet. "Carrie's pregnant. Very pregnant."

"_What!"_ exclaimed Cabe over the comm. _"She's only seventeen!"_

Then Happy heard Toby's voice. _"Cabe, the Nineteen Seventies called, they want their moral outrage back."_

"_I didn't mean it like that,"_ insisted Cabe. _"I'm just surprised, is all. I thought she was a good kid."_

"_Hey!"_ exclaimed Paige. _"I was a teenage mom, remember? Does that mean I was a bad kid?"_

"Cabe!" snapped Happy. "Take your size eleven outta your mouth and then keep it shut. You and the waitress can fight about this later. But if it makes you feel better, I think the kid's kinda freaking out."

"_Makes sense,"_ came Toby's voice. _"My guess would be the baby's father's out of the picture, her folks are putting pressure on her and she needed some space so she ran away to dear old Grandpa's cabin in the middle of nowhere to get her head together."_

Happy could hear the rest of the team at the garage discussing Toby's assessment as she washed her hands. Before she could offer her own opinion, she heard Walter calling her name and he sounded agitated.

"What?" she asked as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Carrie's upset," Walter explained. "She's crying. You need to talk to her."

"Why do I need to talk to her?" snapped Happy.

"Well, because you're a… a woman," replied Walter, immediately realising he should have phrased that differently. "And you're pregnant, so… so…"

"So you think I can relate to her?" Happy finished his sentence for him, screwing up her face in annoyance. "Jeez, O'Brien, how long have you known me?"

"I… I…" stammered Walter. "I don't know what to say to her?"

"What do you say to Paige when she's upset?" asked Happy, rolling her eyes. Maybe Walter hadn't made as much progress as she'd thought after all.

"That depends," replied Walter. "However, I really don't think I can apply my relationship experience here."

"OK," said Happy. "I guess you're right. Doc, you still with us?" she added, touching the comm device in her ear.

"_Right here, Honeybunch," _came Toby's voice.

"Good," said Happy. "This is kinda your thing and not mine."

"Nor mine," added Walter. "But as far as Carrie knows we were on our way here for the weekend and our car broke down. We don't want to get her involved in any trouble. So I suggest we refrain from making her aware that we are in communication with everyone at the garage."

"_Good call, One Ninety Seven," _said Toby. _"I'll stay quiet unless you get really out of your depth."_

"Promise?" said Happy with a smirk.

"_I'm choosing to ignore that remark because I love you," _said Toby.

Then Happy and Walter heard Sylvester's voice in their ears. _"Ralph and I will keep monitoring Homeland communications."_

"Thanks, Sly," Walter replied. "I wish I could do something, but with no wi-fi and no cell signal…"

"_Walter!" _exclaimed Paige. _"You're just going to have to switch off. We're looking into identifying your prison guards at Phoenix Echo. As soon as we have any updates we'll let you know. For now you and Happy need to be there for Carrie. It sounds like she needs you."_

Happy and Walter looked at each other. Neither of them were good at 'switching off' or 'being there' for anyone. They both took a deep breath and walked back to find Carrie still sobbing.

"Um, hey," said Happy, sitting down next to her on the old couch. She didn't want to think how much dust and dirt was embedded in this particular piece of furniture. Like everything in this old cabin it looked like it had been in situ since Cabe and his buddies were hanging out here almost twenty years ago. "What's up?" she added, patting Carrie's arm in what she hoped was a supportive gesture.

Carrie sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "We only just met and now you must think I'm a total fruit loop."

"If by that you mean mentally unstable, then not at all," said Walter. "Our appearance here has ruined your plans so I assume you're unhappy about that. I apologise. We were told this place would be vacant."

"It's OK," said Carrie. "Actually I'm glad you're here. I thought I wanted to be alone, but it turns out being alone sucks. I'm glad you showed up. I mean, I know I don't actually know you, but you know Cabe Gallo and he and my Grandpa are, like, old friends so I trust that you're not weirdos or anything."

"We're kinda weird," said Happy, with a small smile. "We're definitely not normal people."

Carrie laughed lightly. "You're not, like, psycho murderer kinda weird though."

"Not as far as I'm aware," deadpanned Walter and Carrie laughed again.

Happy raised her eyebrows in surprise at Walter's humour. She was impressed. He wasn't big on jokes, but he was getting better at knowing when humour was appropriate to help lighten a moment.

"How did you get up here anyway?" asked Happy. She wanted to ask _why_ she was up here too, but she didn't want it to sound like she was interrogating the girl.

Carrie sighed. "On my brother's motorcycle," she answered.

Happy smiled. "A fellow biker!" she said. "My husband…" then she trailed off, remembering their cover story was that she and Walter were married. "I mean, Walter here, my husband, dropped pretty strong hints that he didn't want me riding my bike while I was pregnant. I mean, I don't have to do what he tells me, or anything, but we waited a long time for this baby so I figured I didn't want to take any chances. I can't wait to get back on the road, though."

"Yeah, well, I didn't have to wait long at all for this baby and I don't have a husband," said Carrie, rubbing her hands over her huge belly. "In case you're wondering, I don't have, like, a boyfriend either. The father… well, he's an asshole. He joined the army as soon as I found out I was pregnant."

"Not good," noted Happy.

"So now I'm seventeen and pregnant," continued Carrie. "And I couldn't take any more of my Mom and Dad and all their crap so I figured I'd come up here and, like, get away from it all. Except I've only been here two days and it turns out I hate being alone too."

"You're not alone now," said Happy. "Listen, our car's about an hour's walk away. I didn't get a chance to get a good look at it, but from the sound it was making I figure it's repairable. I'll just need to find some stuff around here to fix it with. Oh and I'll have to talk Walter through the repairs 'coz there's no way I'm gonna fit underneath the damn thing right now."

"Sounds like you're good with engines," noted Carrie.

Happy shrugged. "Pretty good," she acknowledged. "So as soon as it's fixed I can drive you home… if you want to go home, that is?"

Carrie didn't answer immediately and Happy could see how much she was struggling. Eventually she spoke. "I guess," was all she said.

"Is it your intention to keep the baby?" asked Walter.

Happy wasn't sure how Carrie would take his direct and rather blunt question, but it didn't appear to upset her any more than she already was.

"Yes," Carrie answered. "At least… I think so. I know I'm young, but she's my baby. I can't imagine just, like, giving her to someone else. Except now it's so close I… I…" she trailed off, unable to voice her thoughts.

Happy patted her arm. "Believe me that kid'll be better off with you than in some group home waiting to be adopted," she said.

Carrie responded with a weak smile.

Walter frowned. "Not necessarily," he said.

Happy glared at him. "What?" she exclaimed. "When was the last time you grew up in foster care?"

"It's true I was raised in a nuclear family by my biological parents," began Walter in response. "But as you know, my childhood was not easy. Besides babies are rarely waiting to be adopted for long."

Happy folded her arms across her chest, resting them on her bump. "So you're saying Carrie should give up her baby because your childhood sucked?" she snapped.

"What I'm saying," replied Walter indignantly. "Is that the notion that a child is always better off with their parents is inaccurate."

Happy got to her feet. "Tell that to the kid when she's living with strangers who don't care!" she exclaimed. "Tell that to her when she's hiding under the bed 'coz the bigger kids are fighting in the next room! Tell that to her when all the other kids get picked for adoption and she doesn't!"

"As I said," responded Walter, without hint of emotion. "Babies are usually adopted quite quickly so your experiences – which I realise is what you're referring to – will not apply to her. All I'm saying is that Carrie should consider her options carefully. Being saddled with a baby she is incapable of raising appropriately may be detrimental to her wellbeing and the wellbeing of the child."

Carrie raised her hand gingerly. "Um, excuse me," she said. "I'm not giving her up, so can we just drop this?"

"Oh, right, sure," said Happy. "Um, sorry. It's just I have some personal… actually, it doesn't matter now." She glared at Walter.

"I also apologise," he said. "I realise Happy's opinion is just as valid as mine. You should do what you feel is right for you."

"Thanks," replied Carrie. She pushed herself to the edge of the sofa and then struggled to her feet. "I might go take a nap," she said. "If you guys wanna, like, eat, there's supplies in the kitchen."

Happy waited until Carrie was out of earshot before saying anything. "What's with you, O'Brien?" she asked.

"Nothing," replied Walter, huffily.

"Sure," Happy rolled her eyes as she spoke. "Just remember you weren't a normal kid."

"Neither were you," he retorted.

"I know!" exclaimed Happy. "But look at us now? Ten years ago… even five years ago… I'd never thought I'd be married with kids. And you? You're with Paige, you're raising Ralph, you may even have a kid of your own on the way, so you really need to get over the idea that all parents are like yours were with you. Your folks are nice people, Walter. They tried their best. They loved you, but they didn't know how to deal with you and the way you were as a kid. And if you still have such a huge hang up over it all then I think you need to figure it out before you and Paige have a baby of your own, don't you?"

Walter was taken aback by her outburst. "Are you suggesting that I have…. issues?"

Happy flung her arms in the air. "You have a whole bunch of issues!" she exclaimed. "And so do I. In fact, we all do, but we're all dealing with them – even you. Except this is the one thing you haven't tackled and I didn't realise it was such a problem until just now. Fix it, O'Brien, or you risk screwing things up. Big time."

Walter sat down and exhaled slowly. He and Happy had always had a special friendship. They were so alike in many ways and he always trusted her opinion. She was never afraid to offer it either. He thought about her words and realised he was right. He'd spent so long working on his relationship with Paige and his relationships with the team and he knew he was in a much better place now emotionally than he'd ever been, but he had never really tried to fix his relationship with his parents.

Sure, they spoke to each other now much more than they used to and there were occasional visits. It was good to visit them, it felt good to be able to talk to them, but did they really have a relationship? He thought about Paige and Veronica, how they had been able to reconnect after so many years apart and even though their relationship was still a little volatile at times he admired the fact that they cared enough about each other to fight. He hadn't fought with his parents since Megan's memorial service in Ireland and most of that had been fuelled by the presence of Tim Armstrong. He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to talk to them. He realised he needed to be able to move on from his childhood if he had any hope of being a good parent to his own children.

"Um… um…" he stammered. "I… I…"

Happy rolled her eyes. "You're welcome," she said, with more than a hint of smugness in her voice. She knew she'd hit a nerve, she just hoped Walter would do something positive about it and not withdraw into himself.

Walter turned to leave the room, but then he paused and turned back. "I still have so much to learn," he admitted.

Happy laughed. "And so do I," she replied. "But something I've learnt already is that the learning can be kinda interesting."

Walter nodded and a smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. "I'll be outside," he said.

Happy understood that he needed to be alone. Part of her wished she hadn't brought all this up now, here, in the middle of nowhere with everything else that had been going on, but at the same time he needed to hear it and the sooner the better, she realised.

Suddenly she felt exhausted and Carrie's idea of taking a nap seemed like a very good one. She made herself comfortable on the sofa and closed her eyes. Sleep came easily and she was grateful for the two hours rest she got.

She was not, however, grateful at all for being woken suddenly by the sound of Walter's voice.

"Happy! Happy! Wake up!"

She pushed herself to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. "What?"

"It's Carrie," Walter explained, urgently. "The baby… she's having the baby… her waters have broken."

_To be continued..._


	14. Chapter 14 - Pitter Patter

**-Walter and Happy are so far out of their depth as Carrie goes into labour, but fortunately they have Toby and Paige to guide them. Meanwhile, the case might finally be coming to an end.-**

_**It's taken a little longer to write than I'd planned, but I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. All reviews are very gratefully received - thank you kindly!**_

**CHAPTER 14.**

"How far apart are the contractions now?"

Toby chewed on the inside of his lip as he waited for the answer. Carrie's labour had progressed quickly and with every minute that passed, it was becoming more and more likely that Walter and Happy would have to deliver the baby.

And nobody wanted that. Least of all Walter and Happy.

"_How exactly do I calculate that?" _Walter's reply came back over the comms.

"Just tell me how long since the last time she screamed," prompted Toby, rolling his eyes. He looked at Paige in despair.

"_A little over six minutes… perhaps,"_ replied Walter.

"Actually," began Sylvester. "It's been six minutes and thirty seven seconds."

Toby and Paige exchanged a worried glance. Cabe had contacted the rescue services, but there had been a light aircraft crash a few miles away from the cabin and all resources were in attendance so they were unlikely to be available to help anytime soon. Scorpion were on their own.

"OK," said Toby, keeping his voice calm. "Things are moving fast, but that's OK. Did you find all the things I said?"

"_Yep," _Happy's voice came back. _"Towels, blankets, first aid kit… although there's nothing much in here, just a few Band-aids and some gauze. No alcohol, or wipes, so I'm boiling water like you said."_

"Great," replied Toby. "Any sign of the baby yet?"

"_How do I know?" _snapped Happy.

"You'll need to take a peek, Lovebug."

"_I don't need another pee…oh, you said a peek didn't you. I can't do that, Doc."_

"Sugarpuff, you'll have to look sometime."

"_But you know how squeamish I am, I'll just pass out."_

Toby sighed. He knew Happy was right, birth was a messy business and Happy would likely take one look at the developing situation and keel over and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

"OK, OK," he agreed. "Then you can concentrate on the breathing. Just talk her through the exercises."

"_What exercises, Doc?"_

Toby pressed his lips together in an effort to stay cool. "The ones you learnt at the classes we've been going to for the past two months," he replied. "Please tell me you were paying attention to the nice lady."

"_Oh, right, er, yeah,"_ Happy replied, not very convincingly.

The truth was she'd been so uncomfortable at the classes, surrounded by all the other mothers-to-be - none of whom she had anything in common with other than their impending births - that she'd zoned out and had spent most of the time mentally designing a new waste disposal system for the garage.

Toby shook his head and Paige rolled her eyes. This was going to be ten times as hard as any mission they'd ever been on.

Paige pulled the comms device from her ear. "How does Scorpion always seem to get into these situations?" she hissed. "Out of all of us, Walt and Happy are probably the worst two people to be delivering a baby!"

Toby shrugged and slipped his own earpiece out. "Oh, I don't know," he answered, glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the team. "I'd say Sly and Cabe would give 'em a run for their money in the race to be crowned the least capable midwives on the team."

Paige laughed. "I guess," she acknowledged. Then her expression became serious again. "I know what Carrie's going through," she said. "I had Ralph in the hospital and I was a little older than her, but it was still the most terrifying experience of my life. It's not just the birth, it's the thought of having this tiny baby to care for when you're not even old enough to take proper care of yourself yet."

Toby nodded. "I know," he said.

Then they both heard another scream coming from the earpieces they were holding in their hands and they quickly pushed them back into their ears.

"OK, One Ninety Seven," said Toby, urgently. "Looks like you're on. Tell me what you can see. Is there any bleeding? Is there any sign of the baby's head yet?"

"_I… I… I don't know if I should…." _began Walter. "_Happy would be far more suited to…"_

Paige had had enough. "OK, Walter, listen to me. You too, Happy," she said firmly. "Carrie is seventeen years old and she's scared. She's in the middle of nowhere, having a baby she didn't ask for and doesn't even know if she can raise alone. She's terrified and in pain and the only people who can help her are two strangers she only met a few hours ago who have a vague connection to her grandfather. You're both geniuses, you know exactly how this works. Millions of women give birth all over the world every day, she just needs a little guidance and support from you. It's not too much to ask, is it? Now pull yourselves together and deliver this baby!"

Toby grinned from ear to ear as she watched Paige do what she did best – genius wrangling. It was why Walter had hired her seven years ago and it was always fun to see her at work. She knew exactly how to get the best out of all of them and despite everything the team had been through together over the years and all the personal difficulties she'd overcome – and the ones she was still working on – Paige had never forgotten how to do this job.

"You heard the lady," he said. "Happy, breathing exercises, now! And give her some encouragement. This is gonna be you very soon, Sweetiepie, so think about how you might be feeling and apply it to Carrie. Show her some empathy, she really needs it right now."

"_I'll do my best."_

"I know you will," replied Toby with a smile. "Now, Walter, if we had a cell signal this would be a whole lot easier, but we don't so you need to be my eyes. Tell me exactly what's going on."

The next few minutes seemed to pass in a blur and suddenly Toby was talking Walter through the final stages of the delivery. Everyone in the garage held their breaths. Then finally they heard the baby crying and let out a collective sigh of relief. Sylvester spontaneously flung his arms around Ralph, surprising the young genius who had probably been paying the least attention to the events taking place in the cabin as he continued to pull information from the Homeland systems he'd hacked into.

"Walter," said Paige. "Say something."

"_What would you like me to say?"_

"Not to me, to Carrie!" exclaimed Paige. "It's usual to congratulate the new mother."

"_Oh…right…er…" _began Walter._ "Carrie, congratulations on the efficient birth of your new baby boy."_

Toby couldn't help smiling at Paige as tears began rolling down her cheeks. She pressed her finger against her earpiece. "Nice job, Walter," she said. "You too, Happy."

"_Thanks, waitress," _replied Happy. "_I'm just gonna go outside now and… and… throw up."_

Toby laughed, but it was more of a nervous laugh than anything as he began to wonder how exactly his wife was going to get through the birth of their own baby in just a couple of weeks' time.

Then Walter's voice came through again. _"I think the rescue service is here," _he announced.

"Perfect timing… not," said Toby, sarcastically. "They missed all the fun. How's Carrie doing?"

"_She appears to be fine," _replied Walter.

"That's good," said Sylvester, urgently. "Because there's a lot of new activity at Phoenix Echo. I'm guessing they picked up on the emergency call and figure they should check it out. You might have company very soon. We need a new plan, quick!"

"Katherine," began Cabe. "Any ideas?"

Katherine nodded seriously. "Just one," she said, her voice much quieter than usual. "I'm going to walk into Headquarters and give myself up."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"This is not an efficient plan, I strongly recommend against it." Walter pressed his finger to his ear as he spoke to Katherine back in the garage. "Happy and I can find somewhere else to hide for a while. Putting yourself in danger is not acceptable."

"_You do it all the time," _replied Katherine over the comms.

"_She has a point," _agreed Paige.

"But we're so close to unravelling all of this," insisted Walter. "Sly, you said you and Ralph have some names already."

"_We do," _agreed Sylvester. _"And Ralph is tracing all their encrypted emails, but it's taking time and you don't have time if renegade Homeland agents turn up there ready to take you in dead or alive!"_

"Sly, this ain't the Wild West!" exclaimed Happy, who was sitting on a log outside the cabin next to Walter. Most of the colour had returned to her cheeks now and she was doing her best not to think about what she'd just witnessed. Instead, she was trying to focus on the look of pure joy on Carrie's exhausted face as Walter had handed her new baby to her.

"Just keep working on it," urged Walter. "I wish I could help, but I'm completely cut off here. Don't worry about us, we'll hide if necessary."

"_Where? In the closet?" _retorted Toby, sardonically. _"Or maybe up a tree? They'll never find you there, not highly trained government agents."_

"Can it, husband," retorted Happy. "O'Brien and I can take care of ourselves. You just get on with profiling all those names Ralph's pulling out of the hat."

"Yes," agreed Walter. "We need to gather as much evidence as we can and then present it to every government agency we can think of. We don't know how high up this conspiracy runs, so we'll need to make sure we have all angles covered. Toby, if you're concerned for Happy's welfare and the welfare of your unborn child then don't be, I'll ensure they both remain unharmed."

"_Will you listen to yourself?" _exclaimed Toby. _"You deliver one baby and you think you're Superman!"_

"_Enough!" _snapped Cabe, with authority. _"We're wasting time. Walt, Happy, stay safe. We'll get back to you when we have news."_

Walter and Happy looked at each other. It had been one hell of a day already and now there was very little they could do except hope the team could find some answers soon.

Happy let out a slow breath. "Well," she said. "I guess we shouldn't stay out here too long."

"Agreed," nodded Walter and they both got to their feet and headed inside. "I just wanted to say," he continued. "Thank you for your assistance earlier, I don't think I could have done it without you."

Happy shook her head. "I freaked out," she said. "Not helpful at all."

"On the contrary," replied Walter, closing the door behind her. "I was also freaking out… and seeing you, well, it reminded me of how alike we are and that sometimes we have no choice over whether we're in total control of a situation. Nature was in control this time and there was nothing you, nor I could do about it."

Happy laughed. "Very insightful, O'Brien. I just hope Carrie's gonna be OK."

"She seemed excited to introduce the baby to her parents," noted Walter. "It's not one of my areas of expertise, but I would say they are a strong family unit and they'll be fine."

Happy nodded. "Definitely not your area of expertise," she agreed. "But I hope you're right. So, did you give any thought to what I said before?"

"About my relationship with my own parents? Yes," Walter answered. "In fact, if Paige is in agreement, I'd like to travel to Ireland after all this is over and spend some time with them. Perhaps a month, or even two. We have made progress, particularly since Megan's death, but I believe distance has prevented us from making as much progress as we should have by now."

"Good plan," agreed Happy. "I know just being around my Dad so much – since he got out of jail, I mean - has been great for us. Healed a lot of old wounds, y'know."

"He seems besotted with Caitlin and Stella," noted Walter.

"He never got to see me grow up," replied Happy. "But he gets to see his grandchildren grow up and I don't think he wants to miss a single moment."

"Very soon there'll be three grandchildren for him to dote on," noted Walter.

Happy shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"What?"

"OK, that came out wrong," Happy tried to explain. "I want this baby more than anything, but after what I just saw… I mean, I can't stop thinking about what happened to my Mom when she had me and I guess I'm…" She let out an exasperated sigh, she just couldn't put her thoughts into words. "I'm scared," she said eventually. "Of… of giving birth. I mean, I was scared before, but seeing it so close up… I don't think I can do it. I'm gonna ask for a C-Section. I want them to knock me out and wake me up when it's all over. Toby can watch his kid being born if he wants to, but I don't."

Walter was a little stunned. He had just delivered a baby and he was still struggling to process how he felt about it, but he was sure that whatever those feelings were they were good feelings. He was still in awe, he was still amazed that the human body was capable of making new life and then sending it into the world. Everything he'd always understood about the science of the whole process had played out in front of him for the first time in his life and he couldn't wait to see it all again… and if the next time could be his own child… if only…

And it was that moment he realised how much he wanted to father a child and his thoughts hurtled back to Paige – not that she was ever out of his thoughts – and the weekend they'd just returned from and he wondered… wished… hoped…

Then he looked at Happy and recognised fear in her eyes. His skill at understanding the emotions of others was improving every day.

"Have you discussed this with Toby?" he asked.

They'd taken out their comm devices, agreeing to save battery power for thirty minutes, so they had about seven minutes left to finish this conversation in private.

"Nope, only just thought about it," Happy answered with a shrug. It wasn't strictly true – she'd thought about it before, but it was only now that she realised how strongly she felt.

Walter reached out and touched her arm. She flinched at the unexpected physical contact, but then realised he was trying to be supportive and encouraging.

Happy's skills were improving too. She appreciated the gesture, but she didn't know how to respond.

"Don't be afraid," said Walter.

"You don't have to go through it," retorted Happy.

"But contemplating major surgery when it's not necessary…"

"It's what I want," insisted Happy.

Walter tried an encouraging smile, aware that it probably looked more like a grimace, but hoping Happy would understand.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Back at the garage, Cabe was talking to Allie on the phone while Sylvester and Ralph were busy compiling the evidence on all the Homeland employees who were involved in the conspiracy, while Toby added extra notes. Every time another name was added to the list, Katherine lost another tiny piece of faith in human nature. As the list reached twenty names she slumped onto the couch, unable to take any more.

Suddenly she became aware that Toby and Paige were sitting either side of her. She wondered how long they'd been there, realising she'd been lost in her thoughts for a while.

"Hey," she said, as casually as she could.

But Toby wasn't fooled, of course and neither was Paige.

"Are you OK?" Paige asked. "This must be tough on you."

Katherine shrugged. "Finding out just how many of my staff are involved in an international plot to sell secret technology to a foreign dictator and frame me for the crime, you mean? Yeah, it's not the best day in the history of Homeland Security, is it..." She finished her sentence with a sigh.

"Some of the names on that list are more than just your staff, aren't they," Toby pointed out. "Some of them you've known for years. Some are friends. It can't be easy for you knowing those people are involved."

"Maybe they were my friends," agreed Katherine. "But they're not now, that's for sure. I can't wait to see their asses rotting in hell."

Paige and Toby exchanged a worried glance. That was a pretty strong sentiment, even for Cooper.

"We're still finding plenty of people who aren't involved," Paige pointed out, looking for a positive spin on the situation. "At least when you're back in post you'll know who you can trust."

"Maybe I don't want my job back?" shrugged Katherine. "Maybe this is the push I need to retire, buy a farmhouse somewhere and live out my days surrounded by chickens and goats."

"Isn't that just like working for Homeland?" asked Toby with a grin.

Katherine managed a small smile. "I guess, some days it is," she agreed. Then her smile faded. "I can't thank you guys enough for helping me through all this," she added. "I'm so sorry about Walter, I'm sorry I put him and all of you in danger."

Paige patted her arm. "If things had worked out differently, Carrie would have had to give birth alone in that cabin," she pointed out. "I think sometimes things happen for a reason."

Katherine smiled again. "I can't believe Walter delivered a baby," she said. "You geniuses never cease to amaze me."

"I can't believe it either," replied Toby, rolling his eyes. "Not sure the whole experience did much for my beautiful wife though."

Paige nodded in agreement. "She was very quiet, she didn't say much at all."

Toby shook his head. "She was already freaked out before. I need to do some serious work with her before our little bundle of joy is ready to make an appearance. I'm thinking hypnotherapy might be the only answer."

Katherine winced. "You can't hypnotise your own wife into enjoying the birth of her baby!" she exclaimed. "That's wrong on so many levels."

Toby laughed. "Have you met me before?" he asked.

Paige rolled her eyes. "Katherine's right, Toby. You have other skills you can use."

"I said _hypnotherapy_," he pointed out. "I'm not gonna wave a gold watch under her nose and make her think she's giving birth in a barnyard!"

"Good," replied Paige. "Although knowing how things often turn out around here I wouldn't rule out her giving birth in a barnyard just yet!"

Katherine laughed at the shocked expression on Toby's face. "I think I'll leave you two alone," she said. "I need to close my eyes for a while. Wake me up when all the evidence is ready. I'm really going to enjoy marching into Headquarters and waving it under their noses."

Paige and Toby watched as Katherine headed upstairs to the loft.

"I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now," Paige noted, sadly.

Katherine Cooper had overseen a lot of changes at Homeland over the last few years and handled each one of them exceptionally. This was undoubtedly the worst thing that had happened and from the looks of her it might just be the end of her career after all. Paige hoped it wasn't because that would feel almost as though the bad guys had won. She may not be going to prison as a spy, but they would have been successful at forcing her out of her role as Director of Homeland and that felt wrong. Paige wondered who might replace her. Katherine had been a strong supporter of Scorpion, but the next person to take charge might not be quite so kind. What if the next person was another Merrick? Paige shook her head at the thought.

"What's up?" asked Toby, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Just thinking about Merrick," she admitted.

Toby's eyes widened. "You're worrying about who we might get if Katherine quits, aren't you."

Paige sighed. "Yes," she admitted. "We've had enough stress around here lately, the last thing we need is for our contract with Homeland to go pear shaped."

"Who needs Homeland?" replied Toby, dismissively. "We get plenty of private contracts these days and besides, we're so busy with family stuff we've barely got time for work. Maybe we should all retire and go live on that chicken farm with Cooper?"

"We do need to maintain an income, Toby," Paige reminded him.

"Hmmm," pondered Toby. "Well, maybe Walter could go into business as a midwife?"

It took Paige a second to register his words, then she burst out laughing. "I don't think so!" she exclaimed. "I really hope this doesn't give him any ideas. When I have another baby, I want him as far away from the action as possible. He can hold my hand and rub my back and that's it."

She absentmindedly danced her hand over her abdomen as she spoke, but then realised what she was doing and quickly moved it to her side. She had no idea if she was pregnant, or not and she was trying not to get her hopes up.

Toby smiled at her. "It's OK to want it, Paige," he said, softly. "Happy and I learnt that a long time ago. We had so many disappointments, but it was the wanting – the wishing and the hoping – that's what got us through."

"I wish you guys hadn't had to go through all that," she said. "You didn't deserve it."

"Hey," replied Toby with a shrug. "It's all in the past. We have our family now. It just took a little while. You have no reason to think it'll be the same for you."

"I have a good feeling this time, Toby," she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I can't explain it, but this time I really think I might be pregnant. I know there's no way I can possibly know, but I just feel it in my heart."

"At medical school, they told us it's better if the pregnancy is in your uterus," Toby pointed out.

Paige rolled her eyes at his joke, but she was grateful for the moment of light relief.

Toby had learnt to trust Paige's instincts over the years, so if she thought she was pregnant he was willing to believe there was a very strong chance she was.

"Guys, get over here!"

It was Cabe's voice and Paige and Toby leapt to their feet, the urgency of his tone sending Paige's heart racing.

"I've intercepted more messages," Ralph explained, almost tripping over his words in his rush to get them out. "They're headed straight for the cabin."

"We have to do something now!" exclaimed Paige.

"Do we have enough evidence to shut this operation down?" asked Cabe.

"I think so," replied Sylvester.

"That's not good enough!" snapped Cabe. "I need your assurances that I'm not gonna walk into Headquarters with Katherine and get into a whole load of trouble."

"I can't give you assurances!" exclaimed Sylvester, throwing his arms in the air and starting to pace in circles.

"Hey!" exclaimed Toby. "Cabe, Sly, ease up, chill, hang loose," he urged. "We're all worried, let's not start fighting amongst ourselves."

Cabe pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said. "Sly, I didn't mean to yell."

"At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious here," began Toby. "We need a plan."

"Here's the plan," said Cabe. "I have a few friends at the FBI…"

"Friends you can trust?" asked Paige.

"Yes," confirmed Cabe. "I'll get back-up sent to the cabin, hopefully they'll get there before those bozos. Then Katherine and I can go to HQ and end this."

"You should take back-up too, Cabe," suggested Sylvester.

"Are you offering, Sly?" winked Toby.

Sylvester scowled at him. "I meant the FBI," he explained.

"Good idea," agreed Cabe. He picked up his gun from his desk, checked the barrel and dropped it into his shoulder holster, hoping very much that he wouldn't need to use it.

"Toby and I will head for the cabin," announced Paige.

"We will?" Toby responded in surprise.

"Those are the loves of our lives up there, Toby!" exclaimed Paige. "They need us."

Toby nodded. Rushing into a potentially dangerous situation had never been his favourite thing to do, but Paige was right. Happy and their unborn baby – and Walter – needed him.

"Comms in," ordered Sylvester and everyone slipped their earpieces back into place. "Ralph and I will keep you all updated from here."

"Cabe," began Ralph. "I'm sending all the names and the evidence we have to your cell."

Toby tilted his head slightly. "You do remember how to switch it on, don't you old man?" he said, sarcastically.

Cabe scowled at him. "When this is all over, my foot and your ass…" he began, but he didn't have the energy to finish his sentence.

"I'd better go wake Katherine," said Paige, suddenly remembering she was up in the loft.

"No need."

They all spun round at the sound of Katherine's voice. She was standing on the bottom step with a look of steely determination in her eyes.

"Well come on, people!" she exclaimed. "Quit standing around chatting, let's go get 'em."

_To be continued..._


End file.
